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Colowyo Mine C-1981-019 <br />Technical Revision 66 -Second Adequacy Review <br />Comments and Responses <br />November 16, 2006 <br />Based on the 24 October 2006 meeting and question #6 of the 21 September <br />2006 preliminary adequacy letter, Colowyo will need to add the <br />approximately 2,700,000 yards of overburden being removed by the Bower <br />Brothers in Taylor Draw of the West Pit. As discussed, this too is a new <br />disturbance that is above and beyond the worst-case disturbance that is being <br />used to calculate the estimate. It is understood that this material is going to a <br />temporary overburden stockpile and will ultimately be used to backfill the <br />final Section 16 Pit. Nevertheless, since this is a current disturbance, <br />Colowyo must include a cost for the reclamation of this temporary stockpile in <br />the Technical Revision 66 reclamation cost estimate. Please add a cost for <br />the reclamation of the 2,700,000 yards of overburden moved from the <br />West Pit to the temporary overburden stockpile at the edge of the Section <br />16 Pit to the Technical Revision 66 reclamation cost estimate. <br />Colowyo Response <br />Colowyo moved a total of 1,600,000 cuyds. of overburden that was <br />ultimately moved by the Bower Brother in association with the development <br />of Highwall Miner reserves in the final dragline cuts of the west pit This <br />material was removed to allow an area for the Highwall Miner to work, in <br />an attempt to satisfy contractual obligations between ICG and Colowyo. <br />Colowyo would like to draw interest to the fact that the west pit has <br />continued to shrink in length from the point of the worst-cast volumes that <br />were used to calculate the Bond Estimate. The mining area of the West Pit <br />is not rectangular in shape, but in fact it is more trapezoidal in nature. <br />Where as Colowyo has previously mined the longest length of cuts (where <br />the worst case volumes are based) and each cut thereafter has continued to <br />shorten, thus minimized overburden handling and volumes. In addition, <br />Colowyo is continuing to mine up dip which means the overburden is <br />continuing to shallow up, thus reducing the amount of overburden volume <br />that is associated with the current open pit <br />Considering the points that I have mentioned and also the moving pit <br />concept, Colowyo does not believe that it is necessary to increase the <br />volumetrics by 1,600,000 cuyds. Colowyo would also like to point out that <br />an extensive amount of spoil material has been placed into the East Pit, <br />which in turn reduces the amount of material, needed to backftl! the pit <br />This spoil material movement reduction has not been accounted for with the <br />reclamation bond estimate. <br />Based upon the information provided, Colowyo considers that the <br />reclamation bond estimate that is enclosed, more than covers the liability of <br />