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Bob Oswald <br />- Re: West Sunday Mine, Permit M-1981-021 <br />Response to September 18, 2003 Adequacy Review, Technical Revision TR-03 <br />Page 2 of 4 <br />compressor installation. The added area is covered by unpatented mining claims 5t. Jude <br />21, 22, 23, and 24, as shown on the revised maps. The proposed additional area to be <br />included under the Permit is approximately 16.9 acres. <br />The Operator is proposing to remove a substantial portion of the area included under the <br />original 112 Permit. A formal request is being submitted, under separate cover to the <br />Division of Minerals and Geology, to remove 13 unpatented mining claims from the <br />original 112 Permit area. The area of the mining claims requested for removal from the <br />Permit covers approximately 268 acres. The Operator also proposes to delete the area of <br />the tunnel site corridor from the Permit area. This comdor is no longer relevant as the <br />Operator holds unpatented mining claims covering the portal site, decline comdor, and <br />the remote surface installation sites. The area of the tunnel site claim corridor that is <br />requested for removal from the Permit covers approximately 24 acres. <br />The additional area to be incorporated under the Permit, and the areas that are being <br />proposed for removal, are shown on the enclosed revised maps. <br />Reclamation Plan <br />(2) What material do you propose to use for backfilling? Will it be benign rock from the <br />waste dump, or will nearby borrow areas be created for this purpose? <br />Response: Throughout the Sunday group of mines, the Operator proposes to obtain <br />backfill material from sources that will minimize additional disturbance. Three options <br />are available for sources of backfill material: 1) barren waste rock from waste dumps, 2) <br />local excavated materials from the platformfpad at each vent site location, and 3) <br />importation of material from a future borrow area(s). In some cases, such as at the <br />Sunday Mine, vent shafts are located in the mine yard adjacent to waste dumps. In other <br />instances, vent shaft pads were excavated when the shafts were installed, and these <br />platforms will provide a suitable source of fill material; this situation is the case with the <br />West Sunday Mine vent shafts. In some locations, no suitable fill material is immediately <br />available, and a borrow area will need to be located. <br />If borrow locations are needed, they will be kept as small as possible, and will be <br />reclaimed when use is completed. Reclamation of the borrow area(s) will include <br />grading and revegetation in accordance with the criteria being used to reclaim other <br />disturbed areas under the Permit. The Operator acknowledges that the borrow area <br />disturbances must be included within the allowable disturbed acreage limitation of the <br />Permit. <br />(3) With vent shaft depths of 750 feet, ttnd bacltf Il volumes over 1000 cubic yards, how does <br />dumped material, which can "duff up" by 30% to SO%, adequately settle and compact in <br />a five-day period, to a degree Buff dent to perform final grading and seeding? <br />Response: The Operator's suggested period of five days is to "check" for settling, and if <br />settling has occurred, additional fill material will be placed in the cavity as needed. <br />Some degree of "swell" may occur in the uppermost portion of the fill, and this could <br />lead to minor settlement. The majority of the fill material will be extremely well <br />compacted -the impact of muck falling hundreds of feet is a very effective means of <br />