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~• ~• 4 Logistic concerns for the well field in the 0-5 y=_ar production area (including roads, well pads, drilling, pipe installation and permitting) commit the well spacing t~~ either 600 feet or 300 feet. The spacing of wells in the area designated for production in years five (5) to ten (l0i shall be laid out based on the optimum cavity size determined f::om experience gained during the production from the first few years. The development to support the test mining phase Bind startup of commercial operations will necessarily be somewhat different than the two-pass approach. In the area of the facility the spacing of some of these initial wells shall be 300 feet but these wells may not be developed to maturity until after the maximum and optimum cavity size has been established. During startup and the initial operating period of commercial operations there will not be a sufficient number of mature wells available to teed the processing plant. Consequently, a greater number of wells will be needed to provide an adequate solution stream. From the assumed production per well and production buildup, it has been determined that 26 wells will be developed during the plant construction phase and will be ready for production at startup of the facility for commercial operations. As these cavities begin to expand and the production of sodium bicarbonate increases, some of the wells will be placed on stand by until the maximum cavity size is demonstrated. This procedure will maintain a spacing of 600 feet for active, mature wells. As the latter wells mature and are retired, the wells on standby will be reactivated. During commercial operations approximately 15 to 20 wells •.+ii'_ be developed oer fear. Ultimately, the well development plan must be flexible enough to provide alternative layouts for optimal well spacing/resource recovery to address the operational, topographic, geometric, and geological con:~traints. A ~ F P ~~~,~! Regional Geology and Stratigraphy: Information on the dp6°t'~ ~ subsurface stratigraphy, structure resources, and ground-water a~~P'C°~~ hydrology of the project area was supplied by the permittee. a~~r The Piceance Creek Hasin (Figure 1) is a structural as well as a topographic basin, with the following structural features forming the boundaries of the basin: the Douglas Creek Arch to the west, the eastern Uinta Mountains and the Axial Basin Anticline to the north, the white River Uplift to the east, and the Uncompahgre Uplift to the south. The basin is asymmetric and is structurally deepest in the northwest where crysta11i:1e basement rocks are estimated to be 24,000 feet below the surface.