2005-12-14_REVISION - M2003092 - Laserfiche WebLink

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EXHIBIT D - Minine Plan (a) Description of the method(s) of mining to be employed in each stage of the operation as related to any swface disturbance on affected lands; It is estimated that mining operations will be conducted on the site for ten to Ffteen years. The current Hard Rock Redi-Mix operations at the Gray Pit # 1 (M-2003-092) are under a lease agreement until October 10, 2007, with an option to renew for an additional five years. Some concurrent reclamation at the site will be done in the western and central area of the permit area as mining is expanded into [he additional proposed 5.30 acre extension area. The concurrent reclamation is planned in order to limit the possible increase in the bond amount. Approximately 20 acres of the tota123.75 acres will be distwbed and will require grading and seeding. The approximate 3.75 acres that will not require reclamation will be the protected areas around the seeps and some perimeter areas to the north and west beyond the site topsoil stockpile area Access to the site is by a private road constructed off Colorado Highway 347 approximately %: mile to the west. A commercial access at that point has been installed (constructed June 2002) as per required CDOT specifications and agreements between Hard Rock Redi-Mix and Mc Nick Gray. This road existed previously as a ditch maintenance road and was improved for truck traffic. The road will remain for [he landowners continued use after reclamation activities at the site have been completed. The permit area currently operating as the Gray Pit # I (#M-2003-092) is a series of small north/south gravel ridges fingering off an east west trending shale ridge (Mancos Shale) sparsely covered by cedar pinion and sagebrush. The gravel/cobble deposits lie above [he Mancos Shale/weathered shale in thicknesses from a few to greater than 50 feet. Soil/topsoil occurs intermittently across the site from 0 to 60 inches and there is no distinctive overbwden between the soil and the gravel deposit. Slopes are steep to very steep (greater than I S%). Current operations at the site are conducting facial extraction of the gravel deposits off the slope after reserving existent topsoil in the westside topsoil stockpile area. The remaining site gravel deposits (reserves) are mostly located adjacent to and within the proposed 5.30 acre extension azea along and above the cwrent permitted northern boundary of the site. The purpose of [his revision is to develop the additional gravel deposit north of the current permitted area. Reclamation at the site will also be enhanced by the proposed expansion area as the east-west ridge can be more effeMively contoured and sloped to match the existing topography. Steep reclaimed slopes and remnant highwall segments will be avoided as the ridge can be graded and sloped of both side. In the current active area, there is no overbwden or waste rock to be removed above the gravel to be mined. There is some overbwden 5.30 acre extension area. Overbwden is mostly sandy loam topsoil which will be moved and used to slope and cover areas to be reclaimed concurrently as the extension and ridge-top areas are mined The 5.30 additional acres to be added will be marked and staked using steel posts and other delineation as is used for the current permit boundary. The site as mapped and described by the U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service report of June 4, 2001, consists of eroded stream terraces with a skeletal overbwden of soil. Soils on the site range from 0 to 60 inches and are described as Steep Shallow Clay Loam P.J. Gravel/cobble till deposits underlie the swface soils from a few feet to over 50 feet in thickness along the north/south Vending ridges. An advance copy of the current NRCS/USDA soil type and site inspection records for the Gray Pit # 1 are auached In Exhibit I. As is being done for the current permitted activities at the site, topsoil will be stripped and stockpiled at the Westside topsoil stockpile area for use in subsequent reclamation activities. If topsoil stockpiles are to be left for more than I growing season, they will be seeded with [he USDA recommended seed mix via broadcast method.