Laserfiche WebLink
III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII • • <br />999 MINING PLAN (5-13-77) <br />THOMAS PIT - ANIMAS AGGREGATES, INC. <br />The Thomas Pit lies two miles North of Hermosa, Colorado, <br />in the Animas River Flood Plain at an approximate elevation of <br />6,700 feet. <br />The area was once the site of a gold dredging operation <br />which left a large hole approximately 200 feet wide by 900 feet <br />long and a channel into it from the river. Seperating the <br />dredge hole and the channel from the river is a dike approximately <br />1,400 feet long and oaring in width from 15 to 25 feet. The channel <br />and hole are on the west side of the river's main stream and <br />during heavy run--off are flooded by water from the riv~sr. This <br />run-off deposits sand and gravel in the hole and chann~al. <br />The sand and gravel is then removed from the channel <br />and/or dredge hole with dozers, front-end loaders and trucks as <br />required. Excavation is performed from one to two months per <br />year during late fall or early spring while the river is low. <br />The extraction of material is confined to the channel :and dredge <br />hole and does not follow the same sequence each year. When <br />dewatering is required for excavation, the water is placed in <br />a ditch approximately 1,200 feet long and drains into :~ settling <br />pond of approximately one (1) acre which contains the dirty water <br />and allows it to seep back into the river system through the <br />aquifer. Direct discharge into the river is usually n~~t required <br />but an NPDES permit has been obtained to permit discharge under <br />specified conditions. <br />The excavated sand and gravel is stockpiled :adjacent <br />to the dredge hole and then processed with a rock crusher to <br />-1- <br />