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SM-18 Mine
<br />MLRB (DMG) Permit No. M-1978-116
<br />Application for Technical Revision
<br />Introduction
<br />The SM-18 Mine is located just north of the abandoned town site of Uravan, in Montrose
<br />County, Colorado. It is owned and operated by Cotter Corporation as a Regulaz 112
<br />Hardrock/Metal Mining Operation under Permit No. M-1978-116, originally approved by the
<br />Mined Land Reclamation Boazd on May 24, 1978. Cotter is also the Lessee of Mining Lease
<br />No. AT (OS-1)-ML-60.8-C-SM-18 issued by the U.S. Department of Energy on March 20, 1996.
<br />This lease, covering some 916 acres, gives Cotter the right to explore, develop, mine and remove
<br />ore deposits of uranium, vanadium, and associated minerals.
<br />Cotter mined a portion of known reserves in the NW'/d Section 27, T48N, R17W, NMPM,
<br />underlying the western point of Spring Creek Mesa. Access to the ore body was by a decline
<br />from the permitted mine site in the SW'/o Section 22, T.48N. R.17W. located on the bench on the
<br />north side of Spring Creek Mesa. (See exhibit B -Index Map).
<br />Known reserves farther south in Section 27 can only be feasibly mined from the bench on the
<br />south or southwest side of Spring Creek Mesa. Cottet owns 14 patented mining claims in this
<br />area and proposes to use the Wright Mine workings in SW'/4, SW'/a Section 27 to access the ore
<br />body in NW'/<, SW'/< Section 27. No permit exists for the Wright Mine since it has not operated
<br />after the effective date of the MLRB rules.
<br />The permitted affected acreage of M-1978-116 is 14.9 acres. During past mining, Cotter's
<br />surface disturbance consisted of only 8.71 acres, including 8.55 acres at the SM-18 Mine portal
<br />area in SW'/<, SW'/4 Section 22 and 0.16 acre at a ventilation hole in NW'/4, NW'/a, Section 27.
<br />This means that 6.19 acres of the original permitted acreage was never used.
<br />The disturbed acreage associated with the surface facilities is less than the permitted acreage
<br />since the actual volume of waste material generated by mining was less than anticipated.
<br />Furthermore, five of the permitted vent holes were never constructed.
<br />Cotter has already reclaimed the vent hole site and access road in the NW'/<, NW'/4, Section 27
<br />(0.16 acres) and more than 3 acres of the surface facilities site in SW`/<, SW'/a, Section 22. This
<br />included closing the portal, reshaping, covering with topsoil, and seeding the waste dump, and
<br />reclaiming the evaporation ponds. The building and substation remains.
<br />Therefore, Cotter is requesting a Technical Revision (TR-03) for the above captioned permit for
<br />deleting 5.0 acres of permitted, but never disturbed land in the S% Section 22 and N%Z Section
<br />27, T48N, R17W, NMPM, and adding a surface facilities site of 4.75 acres on Cotter's private
<br />land in SW'/<, SW%a, Section 27, T48N, R17W, NMPM (the Wright and Star No. 10 patented
<br />mining claims) and 0,12 acres for a vent hole site in NW'/<, SW'/4, Section 27, T48N, T17W, on
<br />Department of Energy withdrawn BLM land, and 0.13 acres for a possible future vent hole site
<br />• on Cotter's private land in NW`/<, SWY< Section 27.
<br />Cotter submits the attached exhibits and maps to provide clarifying information for this request
<br />for a technical revision.
<br />SM-18 Application for Technical Revision-Page 1 - 7/14/2004
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