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STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION Of MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman St., Room z l s C O L D RA D O Denver, Colorado 80203 - A~ DIVISION O F Phone: (303) 866-3567 ~~~ M I N S RRA L S FAX: (303) 832-8106 ~ (i E O L O G Y A~jpR ~ 0.ECLAMATION•MININL gg SAFETY•SCIENCE Of ~~nr~Q~~ ~~~ ~ Bill Owens ~' April 13> 2004 9i~y ~~~!«ea Governor Russell George $111 Lyle Executive Director ~ Idarado Mining Co. Ronald w. Gttany Go Newmont Mining Co. Divisi°^ DirMOr 1700 LIDCOln St., SUlte 3600 Natural Resource Trustee Denver, CO 80203 ~ d RE: Idazado Mine, DMG Permit M-1977-403 HR, Revision of Existing Reclamation Plans. ------ ~° The meeting we had here earlier this week was very productive, and I appreciate the time you spent traveling here and discussing the current conditions of the Idazado Mine and the future plans to reclaim it. Much of the reclamation has been carried out under the conditions imposed by the CDPHE Consent Decree, and as detailed in the Remedial Action Plan (RAP), which may or may not have been within the DMG permitted azea. As noted during the discussion, there aze numerous areas within the DMG permitted area which have been fully or partially reclaimed. It is important that these aeeas and the reclamation carried out therein be identified so that we can assess whether the reclamation itself is consistent with the details in the approved reclamation plan. It has been observed by this office that the reclamation carried out by Idarado has been of high quality and has resulted in stable aeeas and decreased on- and offsite contamination, and is moving the site closer to productive post-mining land uses. This office is interested in Idazado's efforts not only to reclaim, but to update the approved reclamation plan in the permit. Therefore, the enclosed materials should be used as a start in determining which aspects of the permit plans currently do not reflect the direction taken in reclamation, and working to revise those aspects. The enclosed materials are taken from the DMG reclamation permit file. Most of the materials date from the 10/77 permit application packet, and a minor amount of the materials dates from this office's 1998-99 review of the permit file as it relates to the reclamation described in the CDPHE Consent Decree/RAP. As we agreed, many of the areas being reclaimed under the Consent Decree do not fall within the DMG reclamation permit. The 1977 application materials prepared by Idarado were in great detail, and arranged in outline form. Enclosed are the Application Form, Exhibits C (Mining Map), Exhibit D (Mining Plan), Exhibit E (Reclamation Plan), Exhibit F (Reclamation Map), Exhibit H (Soils) and Exhibit L (Reclamation Costs), and finally the Reclamation Permit. I have color coded most of those materials to facilitate separating the descriptions and activities by their geographic azea. For example, if the Pandora Mill azea is of interest, the text circled in green should be reviewed, etc. One of the last documents is a brief guide to specific portions of the RAP which deal with areas under the Consent Decree and also the DMG reclamation permit. The text referenced in that guide point to all the reclamation details of the RAP that fall within the DMG permit. One will see by comparing the 1977 DMG permit plans to the RAP plans that the two reclamation plans of those aeeas often do not correlate. These aze one group of aeeas that specifically must be brought up-to-date. The other group of aeeas is those that aze included only in the DMG permitted azea but not covered by the RAP (the 13-plus acres of the Red Mountain Plant, for example). Office of Office of Colorado