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~'. <br /> <br />6.4.7 ESCI-IIBIT G- Water Information <br />No comment. <br />6.4.8 EXHIBIT H- Wildlife Information <br />No Comment <br />6.4.9 EXHIBIT I- Soils Information <br />The soil descriptions supplied with the application are adequate to describe [he soils present on [he <br />proposed mining site, however, it is unclear from reading the NRCS report what is being committed to <br />with respect [o topsoil salvage and replacement. Please clarify how much topsoil will be removed and <br />stockpiled and what replacement depth is being committed to. <br />6.4.10 EXHIBIT J- Vegetation Information <br />The vegetation information should be included on the pre-mining map. <br />6.4.11 EXHIBIT K- Climate <br />No Comment. <br />6.4.12 EXHIBIT L- Reclamation Costs <br />The overall approach to calculating the reclamation costs is appropriate, however, there are several <br />discrepancies that will need to be clarified prior to arriving at a final cost estimate. The mining plan <br />indicates that the gravel deposit is approximately 20 feet deep with 0-6 feet of topsoil/overburden and will <br />be mined in phases of approximately 45 acres, which is further broken down into roughly equal portions <br />of major, moderate, and minor disturbances. The assumptions used to calculate the costs do not seem to <br />follow this plan. <br />For instance, a 12 foot highwall is used to calculate backfilling when it seems that the depth could be as <br />much as 26 feet. Also, the replacement depth for the topsoil from the stockpile area is 6 inches, however, <br />the depth of the overburden topsoil varies from 0-6 feet. Another way of looking at that is there is not a <br />cost included for replacing overburden. Finally, the acreage does not seem to match up with the mine <br />plan acreage or the phase acreage off of the map. With the phased approach to bonding the Division will <br />use the worst case or largest phase to calculate the financial warranty along with a reseeding cost for the <br />last phase reclaimed. In that scenario we will use 27.5 acres with 5 acres of plant site, the 1000 feet of <br />highwall, 10 acres fully disturbed and 10-12 acres backfilled, maybe topsoiled, but none of it seeded, plus <br />only the cost to reseed the last phase of 10-20 acres that is fully reclaimed and awaiting financial warranty <br />release. <br />is <br />In order to accurately estimate the bond, it may be necessary to provide more detail on the mining <br />sequence in any given phase. For instance, provide a typical phase diagram that shows the stripped area in <br />advance of the highwall, the highwall, the extent of major disturbance behind the highwall, backfilled <br />and/or topsoiled and seeded areas, etc. This will allow for a more accurate bond calculation but would not <br />