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~-i~ ~, <br />TECHNICAL REVISION #OI3 - ROBINSON TAILING IMPOUNDMENT <br />WATER POOL <br />Climax Molybdeuum Company EAGLECDUNTYCLERN&9ECDRDER <br />Climax Mine -Permit # M-77-493 <br />June 7,1005 <br />1.0 INTRObUCTION <br />n •r ~ p 11)t?5 <br />.,:.: ~ i <br />The Climax Mine (Climax) is a molybdenum mining and milling operation wholly owned <br />and operated by the Climax Molybdenum Company (CMC), which is a wholly owned <br />subsidiary of Phelps Dodge Mining Company. The operation is located in the historic <br />Consolidated Tenmile Muting District completely within a private land block of <br />approximately ]4.000 acres straddling the Continental Divide at Fremont Pass. The <br />mine, one of the world's largest primary producers of molybdenum, was generally in <br />constant operation from about ] 917 until the mid-1980s. Climax also operated briefly in <br />1995. Climax remains an active operation with ongoing and documented <br />closure/reclamation and composting operations, dust control, water treatment and <br />compliance management, and general property management activities. There is also a <br />large molybdenum reserve exceeding 600 million pounds. Planning for future mining <br />and concomitant specific reclamation planning are in progress at Climax- <br />The Mining and Reclamation Permit (Permit) required under the Colorado Mined Land <br />Reclamation Act of 1976 (Act) was approved by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation <br />Board (NLRB) in late 1977 (Pemtit M-77-493). The Permit was formally amended itt <br />1980 (AM-001), 1984 (AM-002), and 1997 (AM-003)- In addition, i 1 Technical <br />Revisions (TR) to the Permit have been approved by the Colorado Division of Minerals <br />and Geology (DMG). <br />The history of Climax is well documented. Briefly, ntolybdenite was discovered on <br />Bartlett Mountain in 1916. With the start of World War I. the ore body was developed by <br />underground techniques and prodttetion initiated. The mine closed briery following the <br />war, bat opened again in the early 1920s. Both production and the facilities brew for <br />approximately 60 years, reaching a production peak in the Tate 1970s of approximately <br />50,000 torts per day of ore from both undergroutd and open pit operations, At the peak. <br />Climax employed more than 3,200 people. <br />Beginning in 1982, the world molybdenum market went into a rapid decline. Production <br />was curtailed causing widespread and large-scale layoffs and facility shutdowns. Climax <br />ceased production and reduced its workforce by more than 3,000 during the early to ntid- <br />1980s. By early 1987, the mine was producing at a low rate exclusively from the higher <br />grade portions of the underground facility. Production operations were curtailed ]ater,in <br />~ Phelps Dodge Corporation Annual Report and Securities Exchange Commission Form IOK for fiscal year <br />ended December 31, 2003. <br />