INSPEC27428 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

(Page 21 MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID 1! M-1978-091 UG INSPECTION DATE 9/3/03 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS RCO HHP OBSERVATIONS This inspection was performed by the Division as part of its monitoring of Hard Rock and Metals 110 DMO permits. The operator was contacted about the inspection, and a time was arranged to meet at the site. The operator'srepresentatives and DMG inspectors named on page one were present throughout the inspection. There were 21 one-ton ore sacks stored at the Vickers Ranch parking lot on the day of the inspection. This location is not within the permitted area and is not an approved environmental protection facility, but the storage site was approved in 2002 by the Mined Land Reclamation Board for short-term storage of sacked ore. The required permit ID sign was posted at the entrance to the lower 16 level) portal area. The 6 level portal was active at the time of the inspection. There has been no change in the portable structures at the site. Equipment noted during the inspection included diesel generator and compressor, crusher and conveyors, underground muckers and haulers, wheel loader. and flatbed haul trucks. Stockpiling and processing of ore is ongoing on the pad. There was a stockpile of ore on the pad, presumably drying and waiting to be crushed, containing about 25 cubic yards. There were 26 filled one-ton sacks on the south part of the pad, waiting to be hauled down to Vickers Ranch parking lot. Pad surface drainage is still directed toward the sump immediately south of the portal. No discharge from the portal was observed. The breach in the berm at the outer shoulder of the pad, noted in 2002, which allowed contaminated drainage from the pad surface to flow down the face of the dump, has been filled and drainage no longer leaves the surface. Precipitation is the cause of the water on the pad surface, though it becomes mineralized in contact with the ore on the surface, making it important that drainage be monitored, the surface be maintained to direct flows to the sump, and that the sump capacity be maintained. The dump face exhibits minor erosion, but is mainly stable. A few volunteer plants have grown on the face, possibly a type of wormwood. The operator is encouraged to begin some revegetation on the face, since the face is not to be redisturbed and it will help further stabilize it. Establishing vegetation in this medium may prove difficult, and beginning the process sooner could be advantageous. The operator mentioned the recent trouble in stabilizing the existing drift at this level, and the possible need for driving another drift just north of this one. This may require a technical revision, the fee for which is 5875. It should be noted that a new drift will generate large volumes of waste rock, which may be difficult to dispose of on the small pad area. Some of it may be used to backfill the existing portal, some to buttress the cut slope at the borrow area (north end of pad), some to raise the pad elevation, and possibly some carefully placed on the dump face to enhance vegetation success. The operator has maintained the drainageway on the south end of the pad so that no mineralized muck has been placed or allowed to slough there. This is important in minimizing the contact of surface flows with mining-related contaminants. Water quality sampling occurs downstream from the dump location, and the operator is reminded that 2003 samples must still be taken and their analyses submitted. Please do not wait until the gulch is dry later this season. The level 3 portal area was also inspected. It remains inactive and unchanged. There are mining-related debris items all over the 2 dumps which comprise this area, which will be reclaimed. The portal was secured by locked grate. No further items were observed or discussed during the inspection. Responses to this inspection report should be directed to the Division of Minerals and Geology, 701 Camino del Rio, Room 125, Durango, Colorado 81301, Attn: Bob Oswald; phone no. 970-247-5193. I & E Contact Address NAME Kve Abraham OPERATOR LKA International, Inc. STREET 3724 47"' St Ct NW CITY/STATE/ZIP Gio Harbor WA 98335 cc: Harry Posey, DMG ^ CE ^ BL ^ FS ^ HW ^ HMWMD (CH) ^ SE