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Benson Brothers Pig Mesa Pit DMG 112 Application Exhibit D - Minine Plan This mining permit is for a gravel pit of 40 acres within 80 acres owned by Benson Brothers. The property is situated on Pig Mesa to the west of Tongue Creek and is currently undeveloped desert land. The Tongue Creek Valley is to the east below the mesa and is mostly irrigated pastureland. US Highway 65 is approximately %2 mile to the east. The Orchard City boundary corner is northeast of the northeast property corner and contains desert and pastureland. The Gunnison River is approximately mile south of the property, below the mesa. BLM land is north of the property and is undeveloped desert. Land to the west is more desert. The Delta County Pig Mesa Gravel Pit is approximately'/< mile southwest of the property. Access is in the northwest corner of the property from Fairview Road by heading west from Highway 65 near the Cory Post Office. The property contains 20 to 30 feet of glacially deposited volcanic gravels from Grand Mesa on top of shale. Lower layers may contain some alluvial gravel from the Gutmison River terraces as well. The gravel is covered by 0-16" of clay loam and 16-60" of gravelly clay loam overburden. The site is classified as Clayey Salt Desert with spazse vegetation. There is very little evidence of wildlife on this site. Mining will begin in the north central azea of the property by removing topsoil and overburden from the top of the mesa at the head of the northeast facing eroded slope. Overburden will be used to fill and level the upper end of the ravines that run from the mesa top to the Tongue Creek Valley. This will create a level bench approximately 25 feet below the tope of the mesa and a working face for gravel extraction. The bench will be used For croshing operations and stockpile azea. Stripping of topsoil and overburden will be done with scrapers, dozers, and front-end loaders. Gravel will be excavated from a vertical face of 20 to 25 feet in height using excavators and/or front-end loaders. Raw material will be hauled to the crushing area using front-end loaders and dump trucks. Excess topsoil and overburden will be used to build a berm 10 to 12 feet high around the northeast edge of the process area to aide in sight and noise mitigation to the surrounding azea. Additional topsoil and overburden will be stockpiled along the west and south boundaries of the affected land. A minimum of 1 foot of gravel will be left on the pit floor covering the shale layer below. Mining will proceed east to west initially, and then north to south after mining in the north end of the pmperty is complete. Mining will continue to within 70 feet of the perimeter of the affected lands to allow for cut and fill slope reduction and 25 feet of original ground level within the perimeter. Gravel washing operations will be done in the southern part of the process area. The operator has filed for a water right of 1 cfs for gravel washing and dust control. The State Engineer has recommended conditional approval of this water right to be taken from the Gunnison River via the North Delta Canal, which runs along the base of the mesa in the southeastern corner of the 80 acres owned by the applicant. Water will be pumped from the canal to an existing underground concrete tank for storage. Water will be pumped from the tank to the process area for gravel washing as needed. Two settling ponds approximately 30 feet by 50 feet will be excavated in the impermeable shale in the process area and used to recycle wash water. There will be no dischazge of process water from this site. A portable asphalt plant or a portable concrete plant may be on site occasionally as needed to fulfil] contracts the operator may acquire. Such plants will be situated in the process and stockpile azea. Should any reportable quantity of hazardous materials, such as fuel, be released on site, all federal, state and local authorities will be notified, including the Division as required by law. The operator anticipates mining 70,000 to 150,000 tons per year. The expected life of the mine is 15 years.