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<br />floor will have 40-45 foot highwalls in these areas? How big of an additional area <br />of disturbance is expected at this level? Please clarify where on the map these <br />areas are shown and state the anticipated sq/ft of the areas. These areas will <br />need to be included reclamation bonding for additional backfill work. <br />The pit floors at the Hall Pit and Ford Pit that adjoin the proposed BLM Pit are <br />relatively flat and level. From this evidence, United Companies expects [hat the floor <br />of the proposed BLM Pi[ # l will also be flat and level. <br />Two of the drill hole logs that were obtained during the initial investigation of the site <br />seem to indicate that 2 areas of the pit floor may be lower than the expected 4,960 <br />foot elevation. (The logs for the holes drilled at the BLM site were summarized in a <br />table and attached to the permit application.) One of the logs (Drill hole #5) was for a <br />hole that was drilled at the western end of the permit area. The surface of the mesa in <br />this area is at a lower elevation than the majority of the permit area. I suspect that the <br />gravel layer thickness a[ this point is similar to the rest of the deposit, 16-20 feet. <br />The other drill hole log that seems to raise questions is for hole #2. This hole was <br />drilled at a location approximately 350 feet to the east of the East l/16 Comer, <br />Section 35, T1S, RIE U.M. as shown on the Mining Plan Map. This location is in a <br />small drainage swale that would have carried stormwater north prior to mining. This <br />location is approximately 100 fee[ from away from areas of the Ford Pit where gravel <br />removal has been completed. There is a flat and level floor at most areas of the Ford <br />Pit. <br />The data shown in the drill logs does not convince me that the floor of the proposed <br />BLM Pit #1 will be anything other than relatively flat and level. I am not certain how <br />the drill hole collar elevations were surveyed. Depending on the accuracy of this part <br />of the survey, the bottom of gravel elevations shown may be open to question. <br />I also have the driller's notes. This sheet lists the Dole number, the soil depth, the <br />gravel thickness and the total depth for each hole. Again, these notes show total <br />depths for all holes drilled to be in the range of 8-20 '/z feet. <br />A map of the drill hole locations and a copy of the driller's notes are attached. <br />10. The progression of mining and simultaneous reclamation is understood. Roughly <br />two acres (250 x 350) of each block will be needed for processing activities. In the <br />Reclamation Plan, the statement "reclamation can take place on most of the <br />latest inactive..." is vague. Clearly specify that all the area except the 50 wide <br />haul road and processing area will be reclaimed. The Reclamation Map should <br />show where the haul road and processing area are to be located within the <br />affected area. <br />A series of maps was prepared to illustrate the reclamation sequence for each block <br />(11 maps). In addition, a spreadsheet was prepared to summarize the volumes of soil <br />materials generated during each year's mining and how and where those volumes <br />were used during each year's reclamation. The maps illustrating the mining and <br />