1997-09-10_REVISION - M1977247 (6)

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Dump Area, the Senatore Hill Dump Area, and the Fines Dump Area. These areas must receive additional seeding and plantings of native grasses, shrubs, forbes, and trees and maintenance of these revegetation efforts before the sites will reflect fully reclaimed site parameters displayed in other areas of the mine site. It is estimated that this revegetation work will entail three to five years of field work on these areas and will include additional plantings, mulching, watering, fence building, and other reclamation maintenance to complete the work. Afrer finish grading of haul roads, ramps, and access ways, each area must be chiseled or ripped with a dozer, fertilized, seeded, and mulched to establish native grasses and shrubs on these sites. The cost estimate for completion of the existing reclamation areas plus the revegetation of those roadways and ramps to be removed is $90,000.00 over five years of field work. Should the Division of Minerals and Geology require that the operator meet a reclamation standard reflecting revegetation efforts on all areas not considered a talus slope or stable highwall contact, then certain areas will need to have fines or other planting media hauled to the level bench areas prior to seeding and mulching operations. These areas include acreage of approximately four acres on the Gold Hill mining area, eight acres on the Senatore Hill mine bench area, three acres itt the Copper Hill pit area, and nine acres in various locations along the existing hangingwall contact. This twenty four acres of ground will receive 12"-18" of fines or planting media from sites within the mining boundaries and will receive the common seeding and mulching applications for the site as practiced in the past. The cost to haul planting media to these areas and the follow up revegetation work will cost in the range of $2800/ acre for a total estimated reclamation cost of $67200.00. The preceding nine pages documents all work necessary to bring the 100 acre site into closure status, given certain reclamation standards and criteria which have not as yet been accepted or agreed upon by all parties. This report is the result of a thorough review of the site, its characteristics, and State's reclamation performance expectations as best understood by the writer gleaned from numerous site visits and discussion with DMG staff over the past two years. It is hoped that this information will be useful in assessing bonding criteria and planning closure work to be performed at this location.