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HENDERSON OPERATIONS <br />Amendment AM-O5: Mining and Reclamation Permit M-77-342 <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />The Henderson Operation (Henderson) is an active molybdenum mining and milling operation <br />wholly owned and operated by the Climax Molybdenum Company (CMC), which is a wholly <br />owned subsidiary of Phelps Dodge Corporation (PDC). Henderson began mining molybdenite <br />ore and production of molybdenum disulfide concentrates in mid-1976. The Colorado Mined <br />Land Reclamation Board (Board) approved the Mining and Reclamation Permit (Permit) <br />required under the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act of 1976 (Act) in late 1977 (Permit M- <br />77-342). Subsequently, the Permit was formally amended in 1981 (AM-O1), 1996 (AM-02 - <br />formallywithdrawn), 1998 (AM-03), and 2003 (AM-04). In addition, the Colorado Division of <br />Minerals and Geology (DMG) has approved 11 Technical Revisions (TR) to the Permit over the <br />24 year operating history of Henderson. One other TR (TR-04) remains under review by DMG. <br />Historically, there has been little change in Henderson's primary operations since production was <br />initiated. The mine and mill facilities have been active over the last 22 years with no periods of <br />temporary cessation. Presently, the underground mine is producing at a peak rate. Molybdenite <br />ore is crushed underground and conveyed through the tunnel to the west side of the Continental <br />Divide and hence, to the mill in the upper Williams Fork River Valley for concentration. Exhibit <br />B contains the index map. <br />2.0 THE AMENDMENT; AM-OS <br />Amendment AM-04 resulted in a reduction in Affected Land from 4137.8 acres to 3549.8 acres <br />(rounded to 3550 acres for clarity) - 3429 acres at the mill site and 121 acres at the mine site. <br />With AM-O5, Henderson proposes to: 1) Correct the Affected Land boundary and increase the <br />total affected acres to 3647 acres by the addition of 97 acres of additional buffer at the mill site. <br />Within the present buffer acres and the added acres, Henderson intends to construct an ultimate <br />interceptor canal above the tailings impoundment; 2) Delete 2.0 acres from the total Affected <br />Land that encompasses the Xcel Energy easement; and 3) acknowledge the post-mining land use <br />possibility that Henderson may be awarded the National Deep Underground Science and <br />Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) at the mine site. <br />2.1 Affected Land Increase <br />Since AM-04 was approved in June 2003, Henderson has instituted an upgraded, sophisticated <br />mapping system at the mill site using ArcMap GIS software. Deployment of this system has <br />3 <br />