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~ • (Page 2) MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID # M-81-276 INSPECTION DATE 12/16/99 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS TAS 1. A site inspection was made of the Hertzog Pit as part of the Division's ~9-Year Inspection Program. There was no one representing the operator present during the inspection. Mr. Hertzog was contacted by telephone prior to the inspection and arrangements Here made to meet him at the site; however, Mr. Hertzog was not present. This inspector was at the site from 11:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Portions of the affected land were covered with several or more inches of snow. The Hertzog Pit is located 3 miles east of Maybell. 2. This inspector notes that the drainage & offsite discharge problem noted during in the previous inspection report (6(12/96) has been corrected. There was an obvious berm in place at the time of inspection. 3. The Hertzog Pit is currently active. Although there was no mining egiipment on site, Chere appeared to be an active excavation and disturbance of 5+ acres in the southwestern portion of the permit area. A. The Hertzog Pit is permitted for a total of 85 acres. The operator has posted a financial warranty of $5,000 in the form of a Certificate of Deposit. The post-mining land use is pastureland. The mine plan specifies dry mining methods with a maximum disturbance at any one time of 10 acres. The 10 acre increments include up to 5 acres of major (pit) disturbance, 3 acres of moderate disturbance, and 2 acres of minor disturbance. Reclamation consists of grading all overburden and pit slopes to a maximum of 3H:1V, resp~read 9-15 inches of topsoil, and reseeding with a rangeland mix. Reclamation is to be concurrent with mining. 5. It appeared that all of the 85 permitted acres and possibly additional acreage are now disturbed. As there were no visible permit boundary markers, this inspector could not verify whether all disturbances were within the permit boundary. The disturbance:; noted included an active pit disturbance and highwalls, slopes regraded to 3:1, overburden and topsoil stockpiles, product stockpiles, pit floor consisting of sand &(or fine gravt:l, and an upper bench used as a processing/storage area. Due to the ground conditions, this inspector could not verify which slopes had been graded and topsoiled vs. slopes that were only graded to 3:1. Also, this inspector could not verify if any of the regraded slopes triad been seeded. Virtually all of the disturbance was devoid of any vegetation. The extent and volume of stockpiled overburden and topsoil was significant. This inspector has no estimate of stockpiled material that will need to be regraded to complete the reclamation plan. 6. Based on the observations noted in Item 5 above, the operator is not in compliance with the mine plan. Further, the existing financial warranty is very inadequate to complete the reclamation plan. The Division considers this matter to be a problem that will zequire corrective actions. In order to verify the current acreage of affected lac.d and extent of disturbances, the Division requests that the operator submit a technica:. revision that allows for more than 10 acres of active disturbance and includes a revised reclamation cost estimate as well as a site survey of all disturbances at the Hertzog Pit. The reclamation cost estimate should include iCemized costs for all tasks necessary to complete the reclamation plan for all current disturbances or expected disturbances, whichever is greater. The site survey should be performed by a registered surveyor or qualified professional and should include the following information: 1) a map showing the acreage of all disturbances, 2) an overlay or 2nd map showing Che extent of current disturbances in relation to the 86 acre permit area, 3) the location, height, slope, and number of linear 7:eet of current highwalls, 4) the location and acreage of all slopes graded to 3:1, 5) the location and acreage of all slopes graded to 3:1 and topsoiled, 6) the location and acreage of pit floor,