INSPEC12333 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

(Page 2) MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID # M-1978-314 INSPECTION DATE 01/28/05 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS ESC OBSERVATIONS This was a pre-operation inspection of the King Mountain Sand & Gravel Mine (formerly knows as Hewes Pit), Permit No. M-1978-314, Conducted by Erica Crosby of the Colorado Division of Minerals & Geology. Paul Banks and Don Friess of Banks and Gesso and Mike Jones of King Mountain Gravel, LLS were present during the inspection. Approximately 1.5' to 3' of snow cover was present on site. King Mountain Gravel LLC filed a 112 Conversion Construction Materials Application with the Division on November 23, 2004. The Division's recommendation due date is set for February 21, 2005. To date, no written objections to the application have been filed with the Division. The mine site is located approximately 7 miles southwest of Toponas in Routt County, Colorado. The applicant proposes to convert the 9.9-acre 110 permit to a 341-acre 112 permit. The proposed postmining land use remains as rangeland habitat. The expansion area is located north and northwest of the original permit area. King Mountain will add 331 acres to the permit boundary, and 184 acres will be mined. Mining will be conducted in 4 phases. The pit will be dry mined and topsoil will be stripped prior to mining in each phase. Topsoil piles will be located on the west side of the permit area. The area will be reclaimed to rangeland use and slopes will be reclaimed to 3h:ly or less. The applicant proposes to replace 4" of topsoil. Permanent man made structures noted on the expansion area include fences within the permit area. Other structures in the vicinity include County Road 3, County Road 5, underground telephone lines, underground utility lines and houses on the property. The applicant has committed to maintaining a 200-foot off set distance from the County Roads until structure agreements have been submitted and approved by the Division. The remaining agreements have been included in the Conversion Application. The Division noted a very large area of mining related equipment, debris and waste located immediately southeast of the mining .area. This area will be included in the 112 Conversion Application. Unless the items are removed from the area, the Division will be required to bond for their removal and disposal. In addition, the Division observed several 55-gallon drums of oil waste and other potentially hazardous materials. The barrels were not contained and due to the snow cover it was difficult to determine if there were spills or leakage. The applicant will be required to properly describe, locate and contain the fuel drums in such a manner to prevent spills or leaks. As an alternative, the applicant may properly remove and dispose of the materials from the site. Proof of compliance must be submitted in the form of photographs or receipts within 60-days of issuance of the Conversion Application. The applicant proposes to stay 5 feet above the seasonal high ground water elevation. The applicant has installed 5 monitoring wells to determine the depth of groundwater. It was noted that groundwater elevations do not correlate with the contour intervals provided on the mining and reclamation plan maps. The following inconsistencies were noted; Well Number Contour Interval of well (feet) Recorded GPS level of well (feet) Difference (f t) MWl 8656 8620.7 35.3 MW2 8556 8512.7 43.3 MW3 8600 8565.5 34.5 MW4 8546 8500.5 45.5 MW5 8550 8533.4 16.6 There appears to be a difference in groundwater monitoring elevation points ranging from 16.6 feet to 45.5 feet. Because the depth of the mining operation heavily depends on the depth of groundwater, it is necessary that the applicant clarify these discrepancies. Once the elevation of the monitoring wells can be determined, then the depth of mining can be established for the site.