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EXHIBIT D 71MENDMBNT 1 (ltaroh 1992) MINING PLAN (5-17-77) CORTEZ QQ7IRRY - NIELSONS, INC. (]lsendments of larch 1992 in Boldtaee) The Cortez Quarry is an existing sandstone quarry operation being conducted approximately one hundred feet above McElmo Creek at an elevation of between 5,860 and 5,900 feet. eiz of the twelve txeatp and tour-teethe acres ._. shown on the map have been mined with all of the sizteea and one-filth note affected area being in a class of major disturbance. The small amount of topsoil and trees existing on the mesa before operations were dozed into small stockpiles along the north and east perimeter of the mined area. The trees that have been cleared will be burned at the site. The existing quarry is excavated approximately twenty last below natural grade. New operations have begun to mine another twenty-loot lift starting along the midpoint of the south boundary this lift will be mined in a northwesterly direction and require an additional one to two acres each year. This acreage is not new disturbance, but the same area that was mined during past operations. This current mining will leave the floor of the qu^ arty approximately forty feet below natural grade. Future •zpaasioa o! th• quarry shall involve ezoavation of both levels to the north to xithia about SO fast of th• north and northeast bouad- arias. f~ The material at the quarry is a sandstone with pockets of shale and coal. It is loosened by drilling with an air track and blasting with a combination of dynamite and prills. Blasting is done in a manner to minimize the amount of material that is lost over the edge of the cliff. A bench will be left between the existing level and the new level of mining. This bench will be from five to ten feet in width, and approximately 1,400 feet in length along the north and east side of the c~ttarry area.