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<br />MINING RRPORT <br />General <br />In the Front Range area of Colorado, deman3 for construction <br />aggregates dictates the need for extraction procedures. His- <br />torically, such extraction has been regarded as a necessary <br />evil, destroying productive land in order to obtain the valuable <br />aggregates beneath its surface. Graveling companies are <br />proving that this need not be the case. Mined land is being <br />restored to productive uses within a very short time as recla- <br />mation proceeds concurrently with mining. Vegetation and <br />wildlife not only return to reclaimed areas but coexist with <br />the gravel stockpiles and operating equipment. <br />New technology may eventually decrease the need for gravel <br />products. To date, recycling of waste products appears to be <br />the only economically comparable substitute for gravel <br />extraction to obtain construction materials. However, none <br />of the products are available in large quantities. For instance, <br />discarded glass containers might fill only about 1~ of an <br />area's gravel demand. <br />Along the front range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the <br />highest quality sand and gravel deposits are found along the <br />historic floodplains of rivers and smaller streams. Other <br />rock deposits are found, including cap gravels on some hilltops <br />and the mountains themselves, but all the alternative deposits <br /> <br />D-1 <br />