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<br />Mr. David King
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<br />1 1 /4/95
<br />has occurred. DMG considers such activities as indications that the area has been affected and
<br />that mining activities have commenced. Sections 34-32.5-103111, 151 and 1131 of the Colorado
<br />Land Reclamation Act for the Extraction of Construction Materials, 34-32.5-101, ET SEO,
<br />C.R.S., 1995, as amended, provide the definitions of "Affected Land", "Development", and
<br />"Mining Operation".
<br />34-32.5-10311) "Affected Land" means the surface of an area within the State where a
<br />mining operation is being or will be conducted, which surface is disturbed
<br />as a result of an operation. Affected lands include, but shall not be limited
<br />to, private ways, roads (except those roads excluded by this subsection
<br />1111; land excavations; exploration sites; drill sites or workings; refuse
<br />banks or spoil piles; evaporation or settling ponds; work, parking, storage,
<br />or waste discharge areas; and areas in which structures, facilities,
<br />equipment, machines, tools, or other materials or property that result from
<br />or are used in such operations are situated. "Affected Land" does not
<br />include land that has been reclaimed pursuant to an approved plan or
<br />otherwise, as may be approved by the Board, or off-site roads that were
<br />constructed for purposes unrelated to the proposed operation, were in
<br />existence before a permit application was filed with the Office, and will not
<br />be substantially upgraded to support the operation.
<br />34-32.5-10315) "Development" means work performed with respect to a construction
<br />materials deposit following the exploration required to prove construction
<br />materials are in existence in commercial quantities but prior to production
<br />activities. Development work includes, but is not limited to, work that
<br />must be performed for the purpose of preparing the site for mining, defining
<br />further the deposit by drilling or other means, conducting pilot plant
<br />operations, constructing roads or ancillary facilities, and other related
<br />activities.
<br />34-32.5-103113) "Mining Operation" means the development or extraction of a construction
<br />material from its natural occurrences on affected land. The term includes,
<br />but is not limited to, open mining and surface operation. The term also
<br />includes transportation and processing operations on affected land. The
<br />term does not include concentration, milling, evaporation, cleaning,
<br />preparation, transportation, and other off-site operation not conducted on
<br />affected land.
<br />Pursuant to the definitions of "Affected Lands", "Development" and "Mining Operations", DMG
<br />considers the disturbance, existing at the Wallace Pit, to be adequate to determine that mining
<br />activities have commenced. DMG inspection report from the 8/30/95 inspection indicates that
<br />the initial disturbance was created some time ago; however, DMG records do not specify a date
<br />for commencement or cessation of mining activities. Rules 1 .1 3.711) and 1 .13.51211a1, requires
<br />that TR-01 shall specify the date of cessation. Given the lack of information provided by the
<br />record, DMG would consider accepting 8/30/95 as the date of cessation of mining operations. If
<br />the operator cannot provide a date for cessation of mining operations, the Board shall establish
<br />such date as required by Rule 1.13.7(2).
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