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' Bluestone and Section 16 Wildlire Issue Report Western Aggregates, Inc. <br />permitted by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board (Permit No. M91-35). WAI <br />actively mines, processes, and transports sand and gravel from this property. <br />' The proposed addition to the existing sand and gravel mine would increase the reserve life <br />' of the existing operation, but would not change current production levels. Gravel processing <br />would o~~cur on the new land being added to the permit. Sand and gravel from the new <br />propert}• would be transported by conveyor to the processing plant located on the currently <br />' permitted property. Mining operations would be very similar to the existing plan. <br />2.1.3 MINE OPERATIONS <br />' The firs. mining area would be established immediately east of the existing mine. Mining <br />would progress to the east and north removing the gravel in lifts of approximately 20 feet <br />in thickness and maintaining setbacks from property lines. This would be accomplished by <br />' stripping the thin layer of topsoil from an 8 to 10 acre parcel, then excavating the area to <br />a depth of approximately 20 feet. When the first lift nears completion, the second lift would <br />be initiated. Similarly, when the second lift has been sufficiently developed, the third would <br />' begin. ]n this way the maximum recoverable thickness of the gravel would be recovered <br />while minimizing the total disturbed acreage. Occasionally, work may proceed on multiple <br />' lifrs simultaneously. Gravel recovery would advance to approximately 30 to 60 feet below <br />original grade, but not below the groundwater table. Reclaimed pit slopes would be no <br />steeper Than 3:1 (horizontal:vertical). <br />' Disturbed acreage would be minimized by advancing all 3 lifts simultaneously, with 80 acres <br />' being the maximum amount of mining disturbance allowed before reclamation must begin. <br />Overburden and topsoil stockpiles located at the edge of the initial pit phase would be <br />reserved for use in reclaiming the mined area. <br />Equipm<:nt for gravel mining may include, but is not limited to, an excavator, front-end <br />loaders, bulldozers, scrapers, and haul trucks. The mine plan currently calls for excavating <br />' sand anti gravel during daylight hours 5 to 6 days per week from mid-March to mid- <br />December. The gravel processing plant would recover gravel at an average rate of 600,000 <br />' tons/year of aggregate products until the deposit is exhausted many years in the future. <br />' 2.1.4 PLANT OPERATIONS <br />The existing processing plant utilizes a 2-stage water scrubbing circuit combined with 2-stage <br />' crushing and screening circuit to produce clean, sized products. The plant occupies a 10 <br />acre site immediately west of the existing mining operations. <br />1 <br />Western Ecosystems, Inc. 3 December, 1994 <br />