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<br />1 <br />' June 15, 2000 <br />' Kent Gorham <br />Environmental Protection Specialist <br />Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />' Deaz Mr. Gorham: <br />' Basin Resources, Inc. (Basin) is submitting the following vegetation sampling protocol to comply <br />with CDMG guidelines pertaining to Phase II bond release applications. Basin proposes to conduct <br />vegetation sampling in June of 2000, yeaz four of the bond liability period, at the Golden Eagle <br />' Mine, Permit Number C-81-013. Sampling will be conducted on two sepazate reclaimed land <br />vegetation communities, rangeland and irrigated pastureland, and theircorresponding Grassland and <br />Alluvial Valley Floor (AVF) Reference Areas. Vegetative cover and species diversity will be <br />' evaluated on the 44.03 acres of reclaimed rangeland. Herbaceous production will be evaluated on <br />the 7.48 acres of reclaimed irrigated pastureland. <br />' The Golden Eagle Mine is a surface coal mine located in Las Animas County off State Highway 12, <br />approximately 24 miles west of Trinidad. The mine is in Sections 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, <br />' 28, 29, 30, and adjoining azeas to the south in Township 33 South, Range 67 West. <br />Coal extraction was terminated on December 31, 1995 with the existing stockpiles of coal removed <br />' from the site the following month. All on-site industrial equipment and structures were dismantled <br />and removed by November 1996. <br />Reclamation of the disturbed mine site was completed in two phases. The firs[ phase involved <br />backfilling, recontouring, redistributing topsoi I, seeding and mulching of sediment pond 005, the pit, <br />and structure azeas. Drainage controls were established and there have been no erosion problems <br />' on the reclaimed areas. This phase of reclamation was completed during May 1997. <br />The second phase ofreclamation involved removal and reclamation of sediment ponds 003 and 004, <br />' and reclamation of the diversion ditches which carried surface water to the ponds. Activities <br />included backfilling, recontouring, redistributing topsoil, seeding and mulching. This phase of [he <br />reclamation was completed in late 1998. <br />' Basin was eligible for Phase I bond release upon completion of mine related reclamation activities. <br />Consequently, on September 2, 1997, Basin filed an application with the CDMG for Phase I bond <br />