2022-05-05_INSPECTION - M1981243

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PERMIT#:M-1981-243 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS:ACY INSPECTION DATE:April 26,2022 OBSERVATIONS This inspection was conducted as part of the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (Division) normal monitoring program. The South Fruita Gravel Pit is a 112c permitted site that includes a total of 104 permitted acres. The site located one mile south of Fruita, Colorado and is accessed from Maple Street. Jim Doody of Grand Junction Concrete Pipe Co. represented the operator and accompanied Amy Yeldell of the Division on the inspection. The mine identification sign and affected area boundary markers are in place and in compliance with Rule 3.1.12. A signs is attached to the gate at the permit entrance. The permit boundary is delineated by fences. The site was inactive at the time of the inspection. The scale and scale house is located in the center of the pit. Fuel was observed in a secondary containment adjacent to the scale house. No processing equipment was on site. The site appears to be relatively unchanged from the previous inspection. The pit is broken into two major areas with the access road separating them. The pond to the west of the road is the Arcuby Pond. Then to the east of the road is the North Karp Pond(active) and the South Karp Pond(reclaimed). The Arcuby pond is located on the western side of the permit. The northeastern side has been mined and backfilled.No vegetation was growing in the `field' areas. The Arcuby Pond was inundated at the time of the inspection and is estimated to be 15 surface acres. Mining is progressing towards the south in this area with the stockpile yard and processing area yet to be mined. Approximately 700 linear feet of highwall has been left near vertical. All other highwall slopes appear to be properly graded(above the water's surface). In the stockpile areas a few small piles remain and are stable.New survey laths were observed around the southern side Arcuby Pond indicating that future disturbances maybe likely to occur this summer. What appears to be topsoil is stored on the western side of this stockpile area. The eastern side of the permit area is the Karp Pit, which consists of two inundated ponds. The southern Karp Pond is nearly all reclaimed. The slopes around the inundated pond itself are properly graded and have adequate vegetation. A road goes all the way around the pond with a moderately sized stockpile yard to the south of the pond adjacent to the river. This area is far larger than just a road and will need to be reclaimed before the southern Karp Pond is eligible for release. In this stockpile area are misc. small stockpiles of assorted material that has yet to be consolidated to active mine areas. There are also concrete footers from what appears to be the old scale location. Remaining reclamation in this area consist of stockpile removal and revegetation. The northeastern area is the active the Karp Pond. It was also inundated at the time of the inspection. The northeastern banks of the Karp Pit were graded and all other slopes appear to be near vertical. Staff estimates that approximately 2000 linear feet requires grading. Mining has the potential to move further north towards the permit boundary as well as into the stockpile yard located on the western site. Little to no material was observed in the stockpile area. Previous annual report maps have omitted the lower Karp pond. This area has not yet been released and needs to be reflected on all maps until such time. Attached is a previous mine plan map depicting the permitted areas and affected land types similar to current site conditions. Overall the operator is encouraged to finish reclamation in areas where no future mining will take place. The partially reclaimed areas cannot be released and may inhibit other areas with completed reclamation from being eligible for release. Page 2 of 8