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(Page 2) MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID #: nn-~ 985-m9 INSPECTION DATE: ~(1/11U[13 INSPECTOR=S INITIALS: A IW OBSERVATIONS This was a normal monitoring inspection conducted by Tony Waldron, Harry Posey and Suzi Ericksen of DMG along with Dennis Ducommun of Reclamation Resources, Inc. The site is located just east of the town of Alma on an alluvial terrace of the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the South Platte River and has had historic placer mining conducted over a sizeable portion of the permitted area. The site presently has two operators conducting simultaneous activities on the site. The first one is a gold placer operation and the second one is a gravel operation. The gravel operation is set up mostly on an adjacent 1 lOc site but is allowed to operate in a limited capacity on the gold area. The placer waste is periodically transported to the gravel screening/crushing area for further processing into gravel products. During this inspection, both operations were actively mining and processing material. The main component of the gold placer operation is aself-contained processing facility that screens off the over-size material and processes the fines over a typical sluice trough containing a capture carpet that is periodically cleaned to remove the "heavies" or black sand concentrates which are then transported off-site for further processing and refining. The sluice tailings are pumped into a settling pond where the majority of the heavier material settles out and the decant water is conveyed into another treatment pond where additional clarification occurs prior to the water discharging into a series of settlement basins that allow the water to infiltrate into the ground before any actual surface discharge occurs. The gravel side of the operation is set up on the adjacent 1 10 site and presently consists of a screening/wash plant. They are mining material on the 110 plus taking the sluice waste and the oversize from the gold placer operation. The wash/screen plant discharge goes into a primary settling pond where the majority of the material typically settles out. The discharge then flows into the same series of infiltration ponds that the placer operation discharges into. A problem was identified with this portion of the operation that is cited on page three of this report along with corrective actions. The problem was that the first siltation pond was filled to capacity and was therefore ineffective in treating the primary discharge from the wash plant. This lack of treatment meant that sediment laden water was moving into the next series of ponds which are smaller and therefore, less effective in treating the water. The main problem is that the subsequent ponds are beginning to silt in and therefore are not functioning properly as infiltration outlets for the discharge water. The corrective action is to clean out the primary sediment pond immediately and perform regular maintenance to prevent excess sediment build up. This sediment is to be used as a growth medium on the 11 ~ site and must therefore be stockpiled once it is properly dried out. If this maintenance is not performed on a regular basis the infiltration ponds could lose enough infiltration capacity so that the last pond could actually start discharging. This would obviously require the operator to obtain a discharge permit from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment-Water Quality Control Division. This concluded the inspection. Please be sure to read page three of this report and perform the corrective actions as required and in a timely manner. I & E Contact Address NAME: Dennis Ducommum OPERATOR: Reclamation Resources STREET: P• O ~ Pear fs4 ~ CITYjSTATEIZIP: ~'('g ~~ (_~ ~eyK9. cc: I' CE I' BL t FS T HW t HMWMD (CH) t SE I' WQCD (CH) T OTHER