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MINING PLAN <br />ACTUAL MINING OF THE SAND - Mining will be done in very much the same way as it <br />has been done since the start of mining on the east side of Academy Boulevard. Basically, a front end <br />loader will remove the material and place it in the hopper that feeds the conveyor system. The <br />conveyor will transport the material to the processing plant on the west side of Academy Boulevard. <br />Rarely are trucks used to haul mined material and that is usually when the conveyor is being repaired <br />or being relocated to a position closer to the actual mining. <br />The difference in the Little Johnson area though is that the depth of mining will rapidly decline <br />as the mining proceeds to the east. Cross-section LJ-1 (at the end of this exhibit) shows that mining <br />will ultimately stop at about five feet above the clay seam separating the upper and lower water zones. <br />Of course, the question is, how do you know when you are five feet above the clay seam when you <br />can'[ see the clay seam? <br />That depth is determined by the moisture in the sand. Throughout most of the sand profile the <br />sand is generally dry to very slightly moist. As the water table is approached though the sand rather <br />quickly becomes more moist. As has been the case in the past, the mining stops when the sand <br />becomes moist, which is quite readily evident. <br />At that time, mining will not proceed any deeper into the deposit. Mining deeper would expose <br />the water and create a very wet spot or even a gentle stream. But if one waits a few days to a couple of <br />weeks the sand becomes dry again. At that point, if the sand is of sufficient quality, an additional few <br />feet of sand can be removed. Once again, the mining stops when the sand becomes moist. <br />If this process was repeated several times, more sand could be removed. Unfortunately, this <br />process also results in a declining recovery of additional sand because the drying of the surface takes <br />longer to occur, the thickness of the dry sand layer becomes less and less, and the probability of a <br />permanent exposure of the groundwater increases. Therefore, it is a requirement that no more than <br />one additional sand layer removal after encountering the first moist sand is allowed. Doing one <br />additional removal of sand after first encountering the moist sand does not adversely affect the <br />remediation program, would not expose groundwater, and would probably have a rate of sand <br />recovery that would be worth the effort. Additional lifts would most likely be so thin they would not <br />be worth acquiring. Within the existing pit area this has been tested and found to be true in actual <br />practice. <br />In summary, the maximum depth of extraction will be to either: <br />L) the first encounter with the moist sand above the water table or, <br />2.) if the sand is still favorable, one additional lift of dried sand dawn to the next <br />moist sand layer. <br />No additional sand may be removed beyond one additional lilft. Either one of those two surfaces will <br />be the final grade of the west facing slope. <br />As will be addressed further in the Reclamation Plan, this is not the final reclamation surface. <br />The actual final reclamation surface will be higher than the final mining surface as a result of the <br />redistribution of the soil removed from the top of the profile (the former bottom of the reservoir). This <br />Daniels Sand Pit #2 -Little Johnson Amendment - nn-~s~3-oo~ Exhibit D Page 6 <br />