PERMFILE133875 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

.~ E?(HIBIT E RECLAMATION PLAN The Pit, being nn a hillside of 10~ grade and varying in depth from 6' to 25' will be resloped and graded into a shallow depression varying in grade from 1096 to 25~. This will be done in 50' to 100' strips as the Pit is ex- tended. Top soil 6" to 12" deep will be spread over the resloped area and a grass seed mix of a type requested by the Forest Service will be planted. Fertilizer will also be added if the Forest Service deems it necessary. The District Ranger in Leadville will be consulted before planting. At the present rate of extraction, there will not be an area large enough to reclaim until 1985. There will never be more than 3 acres of exposed pit area that has not been reclaimed. The reason for replanting in grass rather than restoring to sagebrush is to provide future winter range for Elk and Deer. The Processing Plant is situated on a low hill over- looking a pond and tailines pile. The tailings consist of eravel, sand, and clay, with no chemicals in them. The plan to reclaim them is to bulldoze them into gentle mounds somewhat resembling the surrounding hillside; cover them with 6" to 12" of topsoil and plant the same type of grass mix recommended by the Forest Service for the Pit area. Fertilizer will also be used if necessary. The Pond is surrounded by sagebrush and willows and sets in a depression 18' to 24' deep. When it is no longer used, it will settle out and eventually becane clear. If the level of the Pond drops when it is no longer used, the area of exposed shoreline will be reseeded. There is an abundance of very shall willows there that can be transplanted also. When reclamation is finished, the plant area will appear as a lake with willows on one side, grass on one side, and natural undisturbed sage on the other side. The tailings area up from the Pond will be rolling and grass covered. The haul roads that I use are old mining roads on deeded land. The road to the Plant area is a Forest Service road used by the Bureau of Reclamation to servi a the Mt. Elbert Conduit. There will be no roads to reclaim. The type of grass seed mix recommended by the Forest Service is 3(~ Smooth Brome Grass, 30~ Weste m Wheat Grass, 25~ Orchard Crass, 10~ Alsike Clover, and 5~ Timothy. The planting will be done as early in the spring as weather permits.