|
EXHIBIT D -MINING PLAN
<br />The phrase inserted under Item 1 of Exhibit D regarding reservations of certain rights on the part of
<br />the operator is unclear and may contain language in conflict with the Act and Rules. As such, this
<br />phrase should be removed from the application. The Act and Rules define "Operator" as any person,
<br />firm, partnership, association, corporation, or any department, division, or agency of federal, state,
<br />county, or municipal government engaged in or controlling a mining operation. The Rules define
<br />"Permittee" as any person holding a mining permit. The term "Person" is defined in the Rules as any
<br />individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, limited liability company, or corporation or other
<br />entity, or any department, division, or agency of federal, state, county, or municipal government. Any
<br />change in operator, including changes in type of business entity, from that specified on the approved
<br />application form, must be handled as a Transfer of Permit and Succession of Operator per the
<br />requirements of Section 34-32.5-119 of the Act and Rule 1.12 of the Rules. The approved operator
<br />or permittee remains fully liable for reclamation responsibility until the permit has either been
<br />terminated based on successful reclamation of the site, or transferred to a different operator through
<br />completion of the Succession of Operator process.
<br />Per the requirements of Rule 1.4.1 15) le), the application must contain a statement that "the
<br />operations will be conducted in accordance with the terms and conditions listed in the application, as
<br />well as with the provisions of the Act and these Rules, as amended, in effect at the time the Permit
<br />is approved".
<br />The application form and mine plan exhibit portions of the Orion Pit application list the substances to
<br />be mined as gravel & sand only. However, in correspondence from the applicant's representative, Mr.
<br />Charles Kinney, to the Division dated July 18, 1997, it appears that the applicant may wish to add
<br />other substances including gold and gemstones to the list of substances to be mined. If so, this
<br />constitutes a change to the original application. Please indicate which specific substances the
<br />applicant wishes to be approved for extraction in the proposed mining operation.
<br />Item 4 of Exhibit D states that the mined area is "to be 10 acres or less at any time". Please clarify
<br />whether this 10 acre figure applies to the maximum size of the disturbed area resulting from all mining
<br />related activities (pits, roads, stockpile areas, processing areas, parking & storage areas, etc.) or only
<br />the gravel extraction areas (pits only). The text portion of the mine plan appears to be inconsistent
<br />with the information presented on the mine plan map in that the text refers to 10 acre mine areas
<br />whereas the map shows 5 acre phases. Please clarify. Also, please clarify how reclamation work will
<br />proceed in relation to gravel extraction activities. For example, it is unclear whether a given 5 acre
<br />phase will be completely or only partially reclaimed prior to initiating disturbance to a subsequent 5
<br />acre phase. Complete reclamation of an area would entail regrading, overburden and topsoil
<br />replacement, seeding, and achievement of successful reclamation.
<br />In order to accurately calculate the minimum amount of financial warranty that will be required for the
<br />phased mining and reclamation plan, the Division will need to have quantitative estimates of the
<br />maximum acreage to be disturbed by each of the following types of mining related disturbances: 1)
<br />Phased gravel extraction areas; 2) Stockpile areas (topsoil, overburden, and productl; 31 Facilities
<br />areas; 4) Sediment control structures; and 51 Access and haul roads. Also, please provide some
<br />indication as to the maximum anticipated unreclaimed acreage existing on site at any point in time over
<br />the life of the operation. This is referred to as the "point of maximum disturbance", and for the Orion
<br />Pit would probably occur when pit areas are at their farthest point from processing areas and haul road
<br />exit points. In this situation, the total bondable disturbance area would consist of the sum of all
<br />disturbed acreages associated with stockpile and processing areas, the active pit area, all partially
<br />00243
<br />3
<br />
|