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i~ I , EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Homestake Mining Company (Homestake) operated the Pitch Uranium mine in Saguache County, Colorado from 1979 until 1984. The mine extracted uranium ore and trucked it to their mill in Grants, New Mexico. In 1984, mining was suspended and the mine was placed in a care and maintenance status. Incremental reclamation and revegetation of mine site disturbances were undertaken during the period of 1985 to 1993. In 1993, Homestake initiated the process of permanently closing the mine. Since 1993, closure activities have included pit wall grade-down and partial backfilling of the North Pit to reduce pit wall movement, the contouring and revegetation of approximately 230 acres of disturbed area, construction of a plug in the Pinnacle Aditto reduce adit seepage and improve water qualify, monitoring of slope stability in the North and South pits, construction of surface water controls, and the dismantling and removal of the Radium Treatment Plant (RTP) and associated foundation materials and soils. During 2002, Homestake operated the following facilities and fulfilled project related compliance programs and activities: • Monitored water quality discharged at the point of compliance, SW-33, and submitted quarterly monitoring reports to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) per the requirements of the Colorado Water Discharge System (CWDS) permit; • Backfill, recontouring, and reclamation of the Radium Treatment Plant (RTP) site; • Geotechnical monitoring of pit wall slopes on the south and east walls of the North Pit; • Geotechnical monitoring of Indian Creek and Tie Camp Creek waste rock dumps; • Monitoring of the groundwater levels within the Pinnacle mine workings; • Monitoring of springs and seeps potentially influenced by the resaturation of the Pinnacle workings; • Monitoring of the Sediment Control embankment. This information is provided for introductory purposes; details of 2002 closure and reclamation activities are presented in the following sections.