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Species Rate(lbs PLS/Acre) <br /> Intermediate Wheatgrass 5 <br /> Green Needlegrass 4 <br /> For Broadcast Seeding ONLY <br /> Mining of the Gravel Deposit <br /> Once a suitable area has been uncovered what remains is a nearly flat(about 1% slope to the south), <br /> elevated platform of gravel deposit with very little overburden still present to contaminate the product. <br /> Because mining is continuous it occurs along a working face of gravel that is about 35 to 40 feet high, <br /> depending on the nominal mining depth at that location. Essentially a front end loader approaches the <br /> wall with the bucket up high and digs a short ways into the gravel wall and then backs away while a <br /> thin section of the wall collapses to the floor of the pit. That is then scooped up and loaded into a <br /> truck or,more commonly, it is hauled,bucket by bucket, to the processing plant which is nearby. Thus <br /> the highwall migrates toward the overburden cut and highwall. This also provides a means to very <br /> roughly view the texture of the gravel being acquired because the loader operator can view most of the <br /> complete cross-section of the gravel at any location and thus select finer or coarser material as needed <br /> for the products currently being produced. It is important to keep in mind that the entire column of <br /> gravel is often extremely variable with regard to texture as it is primarily an alluvial deposit. <br /> Processing the Mined Material <br /> At present,processing only includes a screening operation to sort out the material into specific <br /> gradations which are then provided to the customer. The customer haul trucks come to the plant to be <br /> loaded. The trucks then go to the scale near the entrance where the amount of product is weighed and <br /> the purchase is made. <br /> However, in the near future a wash plant will be constructed where washed gravels will be <br /> produced. This is the third time a wash system has been established at Fountain Pit. The first wash <br /> system had to close because the 2002 drought dried up the water source which has not returned to <br /> similar productivity. In the second the purchase of the water became too costly. <br /> Fountain Pit Technical Revision#3 - June 2022 M-1982-155 Mining Plan Page 16 of 22 <br />