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September 17, 1999 Minrec, Inc. C/O Jim Stover & Associates 2768 Compass Drive, Suite 101 Grand Junction, CO 81506 North Thompson Creek Mine Complete, oversight inspection September 15 & 16, 1999 Participants: Jim Stover, Minrec, Inc. Dan Hernandez, Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) Byron Walker, DMG Henry Austin, Office of Surface Mining (OSM) I participated in a complete, oversight inspection of the North Thompson Creek Mine as indicated above. This site was selected for inspection by the joint DMG/OSM oversight team and the primary focus of this inspection was on reclamation success. Weather conditions included variable cloudiness with light rain on Sept. 15'" ,and clear and mild on Sept. 16's. Ground conditions were dry throughout the minesite with the exception of one section of the light use road to the former fan portal. We began the inspection on the afternoon of Sept. 15'" by walking the light use road to the former fan portal. The bridge over N. Thompson Ck. is in need of repair to make it functional. The roadway to the fan portal was stable in all areas, one section was wet as indicated above. The small cut slopes for the road are well stabilized by vegetation and no problems with the roadway were noted. The reclaimed fan portal is also stable and no problems were noted there. The disturbed area boundary is clearly mazked. We next inspected the proposed fan reclaimed area, and Canadian thistle needs to be managed here (Mr. Walker noted several areas where Canadian thistle management was necessary). We next inspected the Mine No. 3 reclaimed portal entrance area and associated roadway to the former fan portal. The reclaimed roadway is an excellent example of returning disturbance areas to their approximate original contour. All areas inspected, including the former fan portal, were stable and the revegeta[ion mix was dominated by cicer milk vetch and crested wheatgrass. There is an active ground water monitoring well on the reclaimed Mine No. 3 area also. This well is used to monitor water levels in the sealed mine. Appazently during approximately the second calender quarter of 1995, water began discharging out of the former Mine No. 3 portal (through designed discharge pipe outlets) and on or about August 11, 1995, the permittee combined the Mine No. 3 discharge with the Mine No.l discharge into the long pond (separate piped discharges). We next inspected the former water tank site, it also is stable, dominated by the same revegetation mix with perhaps more wheatgrass cover, and also contains an active groundwater monitoring well. This concluded the inspection on Sept. I S'".