Laserfiche WebLink
MINING PLAN <br />EXHIBIT D <br />I • MINING PLAN <br />The Mining Plan Map (Exhibit C) shows the fundamentals of the mining <br />plan as it will occur m the ground. This map shows the area of the permit <br />that is expected to be mined, the location of the processing plant and <br />stockpile facilities, and the general direction of mining. <br />No phasing as such is used in this operation as it is a continuous cut <br />operatim utilizing a haulback approach to topsoil handling. The operation <br />will begin near the plant site and proceed across the area to be mined at a <br />pace consistent with the demand for the product produced. Thus, the operation <br />will essentially "fan out" from the vicinity of the plant site until the <br />gravel deposit is daylighted an the other side of the operational area. <br />NATLRE ~ TrE DEPOSIT: The deposit on this site is composed of two portions. <br />On the extreme south end of the site are roughly three small hills that are <br />capped by gravel. Some of this gravel has been mined in the past by other <br />. parties. Little reclamation was implemented on these areas. In a sense this <br />was fortunate as it reveals the nature of the overburden and soils, the <br />composition of the gravel deposit, and provides some baseline information <br />regarding natural recovery of the disturbed land. <br />This higher gravel layer is apparently sane the last remnants of what <br />was once a more extensive deposit that has been eroded away as the Arkansas <br />River, located a few miles north of the site, cut into the extensive alluvial <br />fans deposited during the various ice ages of the Pleistocene. On a few other <br />hills in the vicinity of this site other pieces of this old deposit can be <br />found. <br />The rest of the site, located at a slightly lower elevation and to the <br />north of the hills, contains another layer of gravel that is quite similar to <br />the higher elevation one. These gravel layers appear to represent ancient <br />river terraces. Similar patterns of multiple layers of gravel of different <br />ages can be found along the broad Arkansas River Valley west of Pueblo as far <br />west as the mouth of the Royal Gorge near Canyon City. <br />The main gravel deposit (north of the hills located on the south end of <br />• the site) is underlain by a shale bed of unknown thickness. The upper gravel <br />Page 3 <br />