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Whirlwind Mine Groundwater Characterization Report <br /> EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br /> Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc. (EFR) obtained mine permit no. M-2007-044 from the <br /> Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) for the Whirlwind Mine (EFR, <br /> 2008a), as well as approval of permit CO-130-2008-024-EA from the U.S. Bureau of Land <br /> Management(BLM, 2008) in 2008. The mining plan calls for the reopening of two historic <br /> uranium and vanadium mines, the Packrat Mine and the Urantah Decline which were previously <br /> permitted to other operators during the 1950s to 1990 (Packrat Mine) and 1979 to 1981 <br /> (Urantah Decline). The previous operators, Umetco and Cotter, had received reclamation <br /> release in 2005. EFR named the combined mine project the Whirlwind Mine. <br /> In accordance with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) Decision Record, <br /> Attachment A—Conditions of Approval, #17 (BLM, 2008), and as described in Exhibit T— <br /> Designated Mining Operation Environmental Protection Plan, Section 10.2, of EFR's approved <br /> 112d Permit Application to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (EFR, <br /> 2008a), a hydrologic investigation to adequately characterize the surface and subsurface <br /> hydrology is required to investigate and evaluate potential impacts to groundwater resulting from <br /> mining operations. This report fulfills this requirement through the assimilation of historical <br /> hydrologic data collected over the last several decades. <br /> The Whirlwind Mine is located within the Colorado Plateau on a high-desert mesa, Beaver <br /> Mesa, at an elevation of approximately 7,100 feet(ft). The perimeter of the mesa is dissected by <br /> deep canyons that drain in many directions, the canyons near the mine drain to the Dolores <br /> River a few miles to the east. All of these canyons exhibit ephemeral flow. The mesa was the <br /> site of multiple active uranium mines from the 1950s through the 1990's. <br /> The geology of the project area consists of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that gently dip to the <br /> northeast. One normal fault, the Lumsden fault trends west through the axis of upper Lumsden <br /> Canyon and into the eastern portion of Beaver Mesa just north of the mine area. <br /> The hydrostratigraphic units of interest consist from shallowest and youngest to deepest and <br /> oldest as follows: the Burro Canyon Formation of Cretaceous age, consisting of conglomeritic <br /> sandstone of an approximate thickness of 100 ft; the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison <br /> Formation of Jurassic age, consisting of interbedded mudstones and lenticular sandstone beds <br /> Western Water& Land, Inc. E-5 <br />