GENERAL30400

• Permit No: M1977573
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 11/10/2004
• Doc Name: Bonding and pit sealing
• From: Transit Mix of Pueblo
• To: DMG
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

IIMMSRMM 28
~n ~
l
~~~~ws
o
yl ,
e
TRANSIT MIX OF 9
PUEBLO
November 9, 2004 ~~~~~~°~®
Berhan Keffelew NQ~ j o
Division of Minerals and Geology
Room 215 Division of Minerals and Gealagy
1313 Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80203
RE: Bonding and pit sealing issue agreement.
Pueblo West Pit (M-1977-573) and Pueblo East Pit (M-1986-015)
Dear Berhan:
On November 4, 2004, a meeting between yourself, representatives of our company, and myself
was held to discuss the bonding issues for these two operations. These issues primarily involved
the bonding of the sealing of the pits for possible future use as reservoir sites. The primary
method being used for this sealing is compacted berm or essentially a compacted berm, but slurry
wall construction is also a possibility. It is known that past efforts to build a compacted berm met
the standards set forth by the State Engineer, but it is not known, at this time whether subsequent
berm construction will meet those standards for leakage.
It is anticipated that slope backfilling and construction at the Pueblo West Pit should be
completed by March or April of 2005. At that time, testing will be done to determine whether the
leakage meets the standards and requirements of the Division of Water Resources. That testing
will take approximately three months to complete. At the end of that testing a determination will
be made as to the sufficiency of the berm in sealing the pit. If this approach is shown to work at
the Pueblo West Pit then the same approach should be applicable to the Pueblo East Pit because
soil characteristics are similar, if not slightly better, at the Pueblo East Pit. Once it is determined
whether this approach will work or not, a final decision can be made regarding the bonding of
each of the pits because the method of sealing has considerable impact on the cost of the
reclamation. Thus, it is anticipated that a decision can be made after the testing is concluded and
a determination made by the Division of Water Resources as to the adequacy of the sealing. At
this time it is anticipated the information required to make that decision should be available by
late June or early July.
In the meantime, all information provided to and received from the Division of Water Resources
regarding this issue will be copied to yourself. This will keep you up to date on the progress of
this important determination. Once this determination has been completed, it is expected that a
final land use for the Pueblo West Pit can be selected and, if it is not to become a reservoir in the
P.O. BOX 857 PUEBLO, COLORADO 81002 FAX [phone] PHONE [phone]