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This permit application outlines further modifications to the site for the full mine operation. Surface <br />• disturbances associated with exploration activities aze included in this application so that the 112d <br />Pennit will incorporate and supersede existing exploration permits. <br />2. Underground Operations <br />Energy Fuels plans to reopen the Urantah Decline and Packrat Mine as a single combined <br />underground uranium-vanadium mine operation called the Whirlwind Mine. The mine will operate <br />one to three shifts per day five days per week. Initially, ten to twelve employees will mine <br />approximately 100 tons of ore per day. As the mine expands and more headings aze opened up, up <br />to twenty-four employees may work at the mine and production will increase to an average of 200 <br />tons of ore per day. The mine has a projected life often years based on known and inferred <br />resources. <br />Nine-foot high by twelve-foot wide drifts will be driven through known ore-bearing zones to <br />provide access for production mining. The drifts also provide access for geologic mapping, long- <br />• hole drilling, rib scanning, and collecting samples. This geologic data will be used to develop <br />detailed mine planning and stope development for each drift. <br />The ore will be mined using a modified room-and-pillaz system. This mining method is a common <br />method for mining in uranium-bearing sandstone and is designed to follow the irregular <br />configuration of the individual ore bodies. The ore seams vary in height with an average seam <br />thickness of approximately three feet. The waste to ore ratio also vanes depending on the thickness <br />of the ore and splits within the ore seams. The mines in this azea have typically averaged 2 to 3.5 <br />tons of waste per 1 ton of ore. <br />The existing workings in both the Urantah Decline and Packrat Mine will require rehabilitation <br />prior to the start of full-scale mining. This will include cleaning up rock falls, bolting of the back <br />where needed, establishing ventilation, and installing sumps and pumping stations for the lower <br />portions of the mine where ground water collects. Once the mine meets Mine Safety and Health <br />Administration (MSHA) safety requirements, the existing drifts will be extended into known ore <br />• <br />Whirlwind Mine July 07 D-3 <br />