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MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID#: M-1977-348 PAGE: 2 <br />INSPECTION DATE: 10-28-04 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS: ACS <br />OBSERVATIONS <br />Holcim intends to do full-scale reclamation of the quarries and spoil <br />ridges during 2005. This inspection was conducted to review the areas <br />to be reclaimed, and determine if any revisions to the permit are <br />necessary for the reclamation project to proceed. When the permit was <br />last amended in 1992 (permit amendment AM-O1), it had been anticipated <br />that mining in the E and C bands would continue until 2070. However, <br />the Fort Collins Cement Plant was closed in 2002 when Holcim decided to <br />concentrate their Colorado operations at the Portland Plant. As a <br />result, the northern portions of the E-band (the north part of E-4 and <br />all of E-5) were not mined and operations in the C-band were primarily <br />limited to excavation of weathered material. The mining and <br />reclamation plans approved in amendment AM-O1 called for backfilling <br />quarries E-1, E-2, E-3, and the southern half of E-4 with cement kiln <br />dust (CKD) followed by capping with overburden from adjacent spoil <br />piles, spreading topsoil, and revegetation. Since plant operations did <br />not proceed to the point where CKD backfilling could occur in the E- <br />band quarries, the reclamation that had been anticipated for these <br />areas cannot be executed as planned. Moreover, reclamation for the A- <br />band, as described in amendment AM-O1, anticipated that overburden from <br />the C3 and C4 quarries would be cast into the A4 and A5 quarries and <br />provide for partial backfilling of the cuts. As shown in photo #4 <br />included with this report, backfilling of this type into the A-band has <br />been very limited. <br />For preparation of this report, a full review of the permit file was <br />conducted. The following list provides information, pertinent to the <br />on-going reclamation project, culled from the file review, and provides <br />information on specific permit requirements relative to questions the <br />Division of Minerals Geology (DMG) has received from Holcim. <br />1. Permit acreage of 1280 acres was listed in the amendment AM-O1 <br />application submitted in October 1992. However, by a letter and <br />revised maps submitted December 1992, portions of the silica <br />sludge landfill located in quarry Al were excluded from the <br />permit boundary. Unfortunately, the acreage subtracted by <br />exclusion of portions of the silica sludge quarry was not called <br />out in the submittal. As a result, the actual total permit <br />acreage is unknown, but appears to be between 1270 and 1280 <br />acres. Accurate maps of the permit boundary are included in the <br />DMG files (see item 7 belowl; if it becomes necessary for <br />whatever reason to determine the exact permit acreage, the maps <br />could be planimetered for this purpose. <br />2. There are 871 acres covered by reclamation bonding within the <br />1280 acre overall permit area. The approximately 400 acres <br />within the permit boundary that are not covered by the bond are <br />either undisturbed or were disturbed pre-law. The approved maps <br />