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(Page 3) <br />MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID #_M-83-209 <br />INSPECTION DATE 07/29/98 <br />INSPECTOR'S INITIALS RCO <br />of the berm material, either of which could lead to failure of the structure. The excavation <br />was to be no closer than six feet to the ditch or deeper than the ditch itself. The depth <br />limit is to assure that pit floor impoundment would not occur due to drainage of pit water <br />through the existing culvert under the ditch in the central portion of the permit area. The <br />inslopes adjacent to the ditch are to be seeded each year. <br />The mining plan states that the final shaping of the pit floor will slope gently toward the <br />south. The present floor generally does slope toward the south. Drainage from the permit <br />area is to be toward the central area, which naturally lies lower, and should exit through <br />the culvert under the ditch. If excavation is to be deeper than the ditch, .which would <br />prevent runoff from being routed toward the culvert or exiting through the culvert, then the <br />catchment basin is to be deepened and culvert placed deeper. <br />Observations: <br />The west end of the pit is mined to a fairly flat floor, and there is no evidence of <br />impoundment or impact to the ditch structure. The north wall on this west end was created <br />by fill material, and a fenceline has been built on top of this fill. The fill and fence <br />appear stable presently, but the fill slope does not conform to the standard for final <br />gradients. It must be backfilled further to bring it to the final 3:1 slope. The pit <br />contains several structures, though not mining-related, are related to use of pit material. <br />These include a 20' x 24' wood building on concrete pad, a 70' x 15' concrete operations pad <br />with a 3' x 1' x 70' concrete stem wall, plus various drums, elevated fuel tank (locked), and <br />concrete, steel and wood debris, etc. An old tracked dredge is parked there, though it is <br />not used for mining at this site. The concrete fabrication business which used the various <br />structures on this site is now gone. Mining is apparently finished here also, so clean up <br />and reclamation should begin in the area soon. There has been no attempt at revegetating the <br />west end. <br />The east end of the pit is the actively mined portion. The depth of the mining is about 10 <br />to 12 feet, and is proceeding toward the east and north. The deepest part of the pit is <br />adjacent to the ditch, and shows signs of water impoundment. There are about 250 feet of <br />highwall, averaging about 8 feet~in height (ranging from 12' to 5'), and sloped between <br />vertical to 1:1. Mining has encroached closer than 6 feet to the ditch, and inslopes there <br />are about 1:1 and unrevegetated. There is an old Allis Chalmers cable dozer parked there. <br />Soil does not appear to be contaminated by fuel or lobe leaks or spills. There are no <br />stockpiles or processing equipment onsite. <br />This portion of the pit is deeper than the ditch by about 3 to 5 feet, along at least 100 <br />feet of its length. In this portion of the permit boundary there is a breach in both banks <br />of the ditch, down to the pit floor level, and includes a gully created down toward Cummings <br />Gulch. The sediment appears to have been caught by the vegetation of the pasture before <br />reaching the channel of the gulch. The banks must be repaired, to prevent future pit <br />drainage from leaving the site. <br />The operator also indicated another breach in the ditch bank on the far east end, which was <br />deliberately created. This was made to divert irrigation waste water (from the upstream <br />fields) out of the ditch and down into the pasture and gulch. This activity was done outside <br />of the permit area and on property owner by a party other than the operator. The ditch was <br />previously owned by the ditch company, though it is now abandoned and ownership has reverted <br />to the various landowners along its length. Here it is owned by Benton Dawson. Though this <br />cut in the bank does not directly affect drainage from the pit, it will continue to adversely <br />affect the water quality in the gulch, or put water and sediment on the landowner's pasture <br />where it may not be desired, or erode that portion of the bank or pasture, or prevent the <br />subirrigated vegetation of the berm outslope from thriving. (The file includes a letter from <br />the Colorado Division of Water Resources stating that no damage is to occur to the water <br />