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I{I. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. This was a combined complete and Bond Release inspection of the La Plata No. 1 Mine. Harry Ranney from DMG and Dan Baker and Michael Savage representing the Rocky Mountain National Bank of Florence wree present for the inspection. No other land or mineral owners were present. The site is dry and free of snow cover. Vegetation is doing very well and there are only very minor signs of any erosion. There was only one small area that had any weeds of note, leafy spurge and knapweed, but a small application of Tordon should eliminate these. Species diversity for the vegetation is more than the rules require and native shrubs such as Gambles Oak and Antelope Bitterbrush are in evidence on the reclaimed slopes as well as Broadleaf Yucca. Since this site is classified as a predisturbed/revoked site, different rules for reclamation apply. The site has utilized all locally available material to reclaim the disturbed ares to a safe configuration. Some highwall faces from the portals remain but these blend in with the surrounding rock outcrops. Overall, the site appears to be very stable erosionally and only one settlement crack above an old portal that will need to be monitored to insure it does not expand. As the was a previously disturbed site, no topsoil was salvaged, therefor topsoil depth was not inspected. the fill that was used for reclamation appears to be more than capable of supporting vegetative growth. Only two small areas, totalling less than 300 square feet, were mostly devoid of any vegetative cover. This should not be a problem as there were no signs of any significant erosion at these locations. The original bond amount was $58,200.00 and the amount of release requested was 547,424.00, 85% of the original amount. All ponds were removed under an earlier decision and the only costs remaining for reclamation would be for minor reseeding or small rill and gully maintenance work. The facilities that remain are to be left at the land owners request. The three sediment traps that are on site still function as designed. These traps will not be reclaimed as they will eventually fill in and "self reclaim". Considering all aspects of the mine's history and financial difficulties, the site has been reclaimed in an outstanding fashion given the limited resources available.