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Third Party Oversight t Water, Waste & land, Inc. <br />' San Luis Mine June 9, 1994 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />t <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />1.1 BACKGROUND <br />This report documents the third-party technical oversight work conducted at Battle <br />Mountain Resources' Inc. (BMRI) San Luis Mine in Costilla County, Colorado. This work was <br />conducted for the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) and BMRI by Water, <br />Waste & Land, lnc. (WWL) under the October 15, 1993 Agreement for Third-Party Oversight <br />and Review. The work was conducted as directed by DMG to provide technical review of <br />issues related to design and construction of the Phase II, Raise I Expansion of the tailings <br />disposal facility at the San Luis Mine. This expansion consisted of increasing the height of <br />the Phase I Embankment by construction of the Phase II, Raise I Embankment to elevation <br />8605 feet, and increasing the lined impoundment area within the tailings facility to the <br />ultimate tailings elevation. These two construction components are referred to as the Raise <br />I Expansion in this report, and comprise the second of three stages of planned embankment <br />construction. <br />During initial construction of the Raise I Expansion, issues were raised by the DMG <br />concerning construction materials and techniques being utilized, and how those materials and <br />techniques would affect the completed tailings impoundment system. The third-party <br />technical oversight was initiated to address these issues, and this report presents the results <br />of this third-party work. <br />1.2 PROJECT HISTORY <br />A brief history of the San Luis Mine tailings disposal facility pertinent to the third-party <br />review is outlined below. <br />^ November 1988 -BMRI submits a 112 Permit Application to the Mined Land <br />Reclamation Board (MLRB, later changed to the DMG) for the San Luis Project. <br />The Permit was revised in February 1989 and again in April 1989. <br />^ September 1989 -BMRI submits a 112 Permit Application Amendment to the <br />MLRB for the tailings disposal facility. <br />^ March 1990 -MLRB approves the San Luis Project Permit Amendment for the <br />tailings disposal facility. <br />^ July 1990 to July 1991 -Construction of the Phase I Embankment and tailings <br />disposal facility. <br />^ July 12, 1993 -BMRI submits a letter of notification to the DMG concerning <br />construction of Phase II expansion of the tailings facility. <br />^ July 22 -BMRI begins clearing and grubbing in preparation for the expansion of the <br />liner system. <br /> <br />