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,, <br />Description of the Operation and Reclamation Plaos <br />The Apex mine No.2 was reclaimed during the fall of 1992. All surface structures with the <br />exception of the shop/ bathhouse were removed. The shop bathhouse was left at the request of <br />the land owner. The mine portals were backfilled in accordance with MSHA standards. Conveyor <br />structures, coal stacker tubes, hoppers, acrusher/screening building, and fuel storage tanks were <br />auctioned off and removed from the permit area. The sediment pond remains and is to be <br />regraded after Phase II bond release. <br />Prior to reclaiming the site, the mine determined the location and quantity of coal waste by <br />digging several test pits throughout the facilities pad. The waste was found to be unsuitable for <br />reclamation because the mine lacked a source of sufficient cover material. The operator removed <br />approximately 2000 cubic yards of coal waste from the facilities pad and removed the remaining <br />coal stockpile. This material was then trucked to the active pit of P&M's Edna Mine and was <br />buried with backfilled spoils. <br />Sunland Mining Corp. had commenced mining activities in 1964, prior to the requirement to <br />inventory and salvage topsoil resources. When backfilling and grading operations were <br />completed in the permit area during September and October 1992, 6 inches of imported topsoil <br />and seed were applied to the 3.1 acres of flat ground (facilities pad) in the permit area. This <br />topsoil was brought in at the request of the landowner as explained on page 187.1 of the permit <br />application. The seed mix applied in the disturbed area is establishing a vegetation cover <br />consistent with the anticipated postmining land use of grazing and wildlife habitat. The area was <br />inter-seeded in Fall 1995. <br />The Division approved on July 28, 1995 an exemption from reclaiming part of a pre-law <br />highwall as part of the permanent backfilling and grading plan. The Division's approval of a <br />Phase One Bond Release request for all of the permit azea became final on February 29, 1996. <br />Repair work was conducted in Fall 1997 on the drainage channel that carries runoff down a <br />backfill slope in a 0.4-acre small area exemption (office SAE). The success of the repair work <br />has not yet been determined. <br />Apex No. 2 Mine, C-81-O1 l 8 April 17, 1998 <br />