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<br /> <br />subject to much erosion in this acid climate, whatever <br />the state of the vegetation, and the benefits of <br />flattening it would be only temporary, since the spoil. <br />piles will be moved again during reclamation. <br />3. Areas to be mined are identified on the mining plan, ~~nd <br />the reclamation schedule is also included in that plan. <br />Reclamation was intended in the north 1700 feet of the A- <br />band cut starting about 1987, but the City of Thornton <br />activities in trying to gain control of the WS 6 S Co. <br />put the start on hold. The Boettcher plant uses <br />approximately 1 acre-foot of water per day. Our water <br />rights are executable only during the irrigation season, <br />therefore we need to store water in WS ~ S Co.'s Curtis <br />Lake for year-round use. The City of Thornton moves <br />threatened to cut us off from that storage capacity. <br />So, we considered turning the A-band cut into a <br />reservoir. It had barely enough capacity, but with the <br />construction of one or two small dams, and some pumping, <br />it looked feasable. Holnam would have transferred its <br />water rights to the North Poudre Supply Canal at the <br />north end of the A-band cut, and filled the new reservoir <br />from there. The 1700 feet would have been part of the <br />reservoir. With later developments, it now appears that <br />this storage will not be necessary, so we are starting to <br />reclaim the 1700 feet in December, 1992. <br />9. The bonding amount is already under regular review by the <br />Division of Minerals ~ Geology. In 1992, it has already <br />been raised to 32000 per acre in keeping with current <br />costs. Both the bonded area, and the amount of bond are <br />kept current by the Division of Hinerals 6 Geology. <br />5. At least two programs of reclamation revegetation <br />experimentation have been carried out in conjunction with <br />CSU. Unfortunately, the results of these studies have <br />been lost by both CSU and Holnam. The point is well <br />taken that such studies would be helpful, and I will <br />initiate contact with CSU again to see if such programs <br />can be set up in the future. <br />6. Stripping of newly disturbed (post-law) land is done in <br />two phases. The first phase is the removal of whatever <br />topsoil exists, though on these outcrops the topsoil is <br />scanty, plus the weathered material which breaks readily. <br />The second phase is the deep stripping of unweathered <br />material. The two phases are kept segregated for future <br />reclamation -- the unweathered material is used first, <br />and the topsoil-weathered material is put over it. <br />Further segregation of fines would require a massive <br />screening process, and since the unweathered fines would <br />be as lacking in nutrients as the coarse material, would <br />be a great expense with dubious value. The natural fines <br />of the already segregated topsoil-weathered material are <br />