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Benson Brothers Red Shale Pit <br />DMG 112 Application <br />Exhibit E- Reclamation Plan <br />The area to be mined is considered one single phase. It is the operator's intention to perform <br />reclamation of the site concurrently with mining of the site, as much as possible. Mining operations <br />will leave benches and slopes with no slope steeper than 2:1 h:v. The overall effect will be a hollowed <br />area on the north flank of the ridge and a lowering of the saddle at the top of the ridge. Mined areas <br />will be re-vegetated with a seed mix and should appeaz similaz to reclaimed land on the adjacent Red <br />Canyon Coal Mine property to the north. <br />a) The site is currently rangeland and will be reclaimed as rangeland. Mining will create nearly <br />flat benches where the shale was removed and highwalls at the interior of the excavation. The <br />highwalls will be reduced using cut and fill technique and backfilling as needed with <br />unmazketable waste rock and excess overburden. Lowering the elevation of the ridge top by up <br />to 50 feet will provide enough material to grade the mined area to a stable final configuration <br />with slopes that aze compatible with the natural slopes in the azea and no slopes steeper than <br />2:1 (h:v) Topsoil in the mined area runs from 0 to 4 inches with subsoil 4 to 14 inches. This <br />material will be salvaged and stockpiled in the process azea or on the mined benches till it can <br />be spread on the final graded slopes. Topsoil will be stockpiled with front-end loaders to <br />minimize compaction. The process azea will be reclaimed after all mining is complete. The <br />operator will commit to salvaging all available topsoil from the process azea without adversely <br />affecting the stability of the dry creek bed and will replace 6 inches of topsoil in the process <br />azea, or the amount salvaged, whichever is less. Any surplus of topsoil from the process area <br />will be used to supplement topsoil depth on the backfilled pit slopes. <br />b) The post mining land use of rangeland is compatible with many properties in the vicinity. The <br />adjacent Red Canyon Coal Mine property was reclaimed as rangeland as aze several other <br />reclaimed coal mine properties in the area. The site is immediately adjacent to the still active <br />Belden Red Shale Pit. The pre-mining land use of this site is vacant land described by Delta <br />County Planning Staff as Juniper and Pinyon Trees, grasses, and Sage Brush. While there aze <br />several homes adjacent to the site, many of them include horse pastures or small agricultural <br />enterprises such as vineyards. In approving the Specific Development (copy attached), the <br />Delta County Board of County Commissioners specifically state that they do not adopt staff <br />recommendations, including the staff statement that the surrounding area is residential. <br />Therefore, the applicant believes that the post-mining land use of rangeland to match the pre- <br />mining land use and land use of adjacent reclaimed lands, is appropriate. <br />c) Description for meeting the requirements of Section 3.1. <br />3,1.1 The post mining land use was determined according to the wishes of the owners and <br />compatibility with surrounding property and reclamation on neazby reclaimed coal <br />mores. <br />3,1.2 We aze not reclaiming substituted land. <br />3.1.3 Reclamation will be completed in a timely manner and fmal reclamation will be <br />completed within five yeazs of completion of mining. <br />3.1.4 No public use of the land will be permitted. <br />3,1.5 Grading will create stable slopes no greater than 2:1 (h:v} and gentler sloping benches <br />that aze compatible with neazby slopes and easily traversed by wildlife. Backfilling will <br />be done with materials from the site and compacted by the equipment used to do the <br />backfilling. There aze no toxic or acid forming materials at this site. <br />