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our dry facility is installed. Based on water sampling, this water source is of good quality. <br />If we cannot work out a reasonable agreement with either of these parties on DP Spring, <br />we will contact other water owners in the community of Gateway. Our choice of water <br />supplier will be based on price and convenience. We will identify the current source of <br />water for our dry if a purchase agreement can be consummated prior to the submittal of <br />plan revisions. <br />2. Water treatment updates (various pages) -Update the PO to be consistent with <br />changes made in the recently approved Whirlwind NOI modification, specifically related <br />to changes in the design of the water treatment facility, storage capacity, selenium <br />treatment, and surface facilities (structures). <br />The requested revisions to the Plan of Operations text and drawings will be made based <br />on the as-built configuration of the water treatment plant. A report is included with this <br />response to comments that documents as-built conditions and provides a revised "Mine <br />Water Treatment Report" by Lyntek Incorporated. This report, dated November 2007, <br />will replace their June 2007 report as Appendix H in the Plan of Operations. <br />3. Bulkhead seals (Page 6-5). This addresses the proposed upper and lower bulkhead <br />seals, but does not include any bulkhead design. Provide a conceptual design with <br />illustrations as appropriate. <br />We are currently working on the conceptual design for the lower bulkhead seal that will <br />prevent ground water from flowing into the mine workings upon closure. An important <br />component of this design is locating the seal in an area where it can be tied into <br />competent rock. We believe we have found a good location near the bottom of the decline <br />for this seal and will present a conceptual design based on the calculated hydraulic <br />loading at this location. The upper seal had been proposed for safety purposes when the <br />reclamation plan included installing a bat gate at the portal (i.e., we did not want <br />somebody stumbling into the water pool created above the lower seal). Based on <br />subsequent discussions with the BLM, it was determined that the Whirlwind decline was <br />not suitable bat habitat and that the portal would be backfilled. Under this scenario, the <br />upper seal is no longer needed. The ground water encountered in the decline is an <br />unconfined perched aquifer within a sandstone lens; accordingly, the water pool created <br />above the lower seal will not extend more than a few feet above the sandstone aquifer. <br />The proposed pool location within the decline will be delineated on a reclamation map. <br />4. Bonding (Pages 6-11). The bond needs to be adjusted for removal of metal tanks <br />rather than pond backfill. <br />The bond estimate will be revised accordingly. Use of the portable metal tanks will <br />reduce the amount of earthwork required during reclamation and, as a result, the bond <br />estimate is expected to decrease. <br />5. Seeding Window (Page 5-12). Address timing of topsoil placement and seeding for the <br />reclamation plan. This includes direct placement of stripped topsoil from a new area of <br />1~:~.~~~.°r~y l~u,~l~ F~~~~E.~~~i-c~< l'a_,s~54~r~~t;~~~~ ~:? t;~~it,~~ l~c~talti°~~~4r~~1. `~~:'st~: frtiti 2 <br />