2008-05-30_PERMIT FILE - M2008035

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RECLAMATION PLAN EXHIBIT E (CONT.) times. When mining resumes the highwall mining method will again be used. Since the slopes around the perimeter of the mined area will be mined to their final rates, only minor amounts of slope work will be necessary when mining ends. This will also insure, that if mining ceases before the resource is exhausted, only a minor amount of work would have to be done to finish reclamation on the disturbed area. The placement of the soil stockpiles around the perimeter of the mined area or direct placement on the final slopes as strip- ping takes place will also reduce the cost to reclaim the site if mining ended prematurely. By using this method the topsoil only has to be handled once and reclamation will run concurrent with mining. Placing the topsoil where it will be needed for reclama- tion will reduce the distance it has to be moved. There are sufficient amounts of topsoil so the mined area can be resoiled to an average depth of 10 inches. Remember that this will only be done IF the material is available. We will use the available topsoil salvaged from the stripping process and will not haul additional soils onto the site for revegetation. This is especially true on the floor of the old mining area where no topsoil exists at this time. Some growth medium was stored on the east side of the old mine area and that will be used for the old mine area. Existing soils in place have been capable of producing a good cover of native grasses suitable for grazing purposes when not abused. EXHIBITI/J describes the current cover in the terms of yearly production typically found on the soils found on the site. Our site specific investigations suggest it is close to the NRCS report numbers which will be used as background information as reclamation progresses. One sure way of determin- ing reclamation success is to compare the reclaimed areas with surrounding undisturbed rangeland areas. If they match, the revegetation is successful. As outlined in the MININGPLAN, 36.78 acres ± of the permitted area will be disturbed as a result of mining. Of this area 5.82 acres is in the pre-mined area and the remaining 30.96 acres is in the new area. Since there are no stages in the permit, reclamation will run concurrent with mining. As mining pro- gresses across the property some parts of the property will remain undisturbed while other areas will be stripped, mined, and either partially reclaimed or totally reclaimed. The MININGPLANMAP -EXHIBITGI shows how the pit will look when approximately 45% is 14