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deposited on the inside of a large and broad river bend or perhaps are a remnant part of a topographic <br /> feature that was otherwise eroded away. <br /> Additional drilling by Schmidt in the amended land found one large and one smaller pocket of <br /> this kind of material in the northern half of the two parcels added by Cooley. In fact, it appears <br /> possible that mining in the large area may not actually be worth the effort or expense. The full extent <br /> of these pockets is unknown but their approximate size and location is shown on the new Mining Plan <br /> Map. The larger pocket appears to join the exposed poor quality material in the southwest corner of <br /> the operation. That material is rather poor quality for the most part. <br /> Mining around these pockets, if, in fact, they are unsuitable material,will need to be an <br /> adaptive process where some is uncovered, it is examined and mined if suitable. It is also possible that <br /> the better material from here can be blended with material mined elsewhere to meet specifications. <br /> The less suitable and separated material can then be used as fill in reclamation or sold as a lower <br /> grade product or both. <br /> It does appear that the southern half of the amended area probably has good gravel present <br /> over most of its area. The amount of good gravel per unit area may be much less due to the <br /> development of deep erosion cuts that have been created north of the south permit boundary and on <br /> the edge of the elevated mesa(or mesita) where the gravel is being mined. This land slopes much <br /> more steeply into the valley and therefore some of the gravel depth seen to the north may have already <br /> been eroded away. Just east, in the former Broderick and Gibbons operation which was almost <br /> adjacent to this operation these gravels seem to have experienced limited mining. So,perhaps the <br /> gravel here is not so favorable and mining in this area will be limited. Once again, determining what <br /> will happen on the south end is a bit indefinite due to all the erosion damage in that area. It is always <br /> difficult to be sure exactly what is present in most upland areas of aggregate to be mined. Especially <br /> where glacial outwash plains compose the aggregate. The braided streams of such landscapes create <br /> highly variable sediment deposits. <br /> The plan for mining this southern edge is very much the same as it is elsewhere. That is,mine <br /> along an east-west cut while removing whatever soil/overburden is present and being careful about <br /> intercepting any perched aquifers that might be flowing through this area and into the alluvium in the <br /> valley. However, depending upon what the material to the north of this sloped area is like and what <br /> kind of moisture indications are encountered there, it would be wise to explore this area with some <br /> backhoe pits to see what is actually present in the way of depth and moisture. Digging pits in the <br /> bottom of the erosion channels will be adhered to as those are easy to backfill without introducing <br /> much, if any, overburden that could interfere with water flow. That would then provide a means to <br /> determine how deep mining can go so a more precise plan for mining here can be developed. That <br /> said, first the mining has to successfully get through the land to the north where the pockets of lower <br /> Fountain Pit Technical Revision#3 - June 2022 M-1982-155 Mining Plan Page 11 of 22 <br />