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• (page 2) • <br />VINE ID p OR PROSPECTING ID •k M-92-033 <br />:CNSPECTIOhI DATE_January 19, 1999 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS TAS <br />OBSEP.VATIONS <br />L. A site inspection was made of the Sand Creek Mine. Present during the inspection was <br />Wayne Pipkin of Sand Creek Farms, Inc. <br />2. The Sand Creek Mine is permitted for 45.48 acres. Most of the excavation will take place <br />in the dry creek bed of West Bijou Creek during low flow. West Bijou Creek is an ephemeral <br />stream that flows periodically in response to large precipitation events. The mining plan <br />specifies that the operator will mine the permitted area in four (4) separate phases. The <br />operator has posted a financial warranty of $4,500 for a maximum disturbance of 10 acres at <br />any one time. The post-mining land use is specified as river bottom and pastureland (grazing <br />land) for adjacent areas. <br />3. The operator is currently working in the Phase 1 area within the designated permit <br />boundary. There is approximately 1.5 acres of active disturbance in the creek bed area. <br />Charing the inspection, the operator was working to establish a berm on the east side of the <br />creek to control the flows expected Later this spring. The operator indicated that a large <br />flow event occurred during the summer of 1998 which partially washed out the bank in this <br />area. Stockpile and wash pond areas have been located at least 100 feet from the active <br />creek bed as specified in the mining plan. The two (2) wash ponds contained several feet of <br />water, supplied from a shallow well permitted by the operator. <br />4. The reclamation plan specifies that mined portions of the creek bottom will be regraded <br />and smoothed out, and adjacent areas will be graded and revegetated to pastureland grasses <br />suitable for grazing by livestock. Adjacent areas will be graded to a minimum of 26 slope <br />and maximum of 4:1 slope. The operator anticipates that adjacent areas will be reclaimed to <br />a condition that is.significantly better than currently exists, with much of the undisturbed <br />adjacent land dominated by either russian thistle or prairie dog communities. <br />5. This inspector notes the following disturbances and reclamation tasks to be completed: <br />regrade 1.5 acre-feet of overburden in the wash pond area, regrade 3 acre-feet of overburden <br />directly north of the wash pond area, regrade 2 acre-feet of sand and overburden in the <br />creek bed area, scarify and revegetate 3 acres of yard/stockpile and adjacent areas, and <br />remove the truck scales/scale house. The Division has calculated a total reclamation cost <br />of $5,800 for the existing disturbance at the Sand Creek Mine (see attached calculations). <br />Therefore, the existing financial warranty of $4,500 is not adequate to complete the <br />reclamation plan. The Division considers this matter to be a problem and requests that you <br />complete one of the following actions by April 6, 1999 or within 60 days of receipt of this <br />inspection report: 1) submit a replacement financial warranty of $5,800, 2) submit an <br />additional financial warranty of $1,300, or 3) perform reclamation tasks at the site to <br />reduce the outstanding reclamation liability to no more than $4,500. I have attached <br />warranty forms for your use. Please see page 4 for corrective actions. <br />6. The operator has done a good job of posting an entrance sign and identifying the permit <br />boundary as required by Rule 3.1.12. <br />7. There were no problems noted on site. The operator has done an exemplary job of limiting <br />