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STATE OF COLORADO
<br />DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY t/
<br />Department of Natural Resources
<br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215
<br />Denver, Colorado 80203
<br />Phone: (303) 866-3567
<br />FAX: (303) 832-8106
<br />March 28, 2008 ~
<br />~~C~IVE~
<br />MAR 3 1 2008
<br />Division of Reclamation,
<br />Mining and Safety
<br />COLORADO
<br />DIVISION O F
<br />RECLAMATION
<br />MINING
<br />- &-
<br />SAFETY
<br />Bill Ritter, Jr.
<br />Governor
<br />Ben Langenfeld Harris D. Sherman
<br />Greg Lewicki and Associates / ~ ~_ ~ 1 / Executive Director
<br />11541 Warrington Court Ronald W. Cattany
<br />Division Director
<br />Parker, CO 81501 Natural Resource Trustee
<br />Re: Vagneur Pit, Permit No. M-1980-085, Surety Reduction No. 1 Preliminary Adequacy Review ~
<br />Dear Mr. Langenfeld:
<br />The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DBMS) received Elam Construction, Inc.'s March 3, 2008
<br />request for Surety Reduction No. 1 (SR-O1) to Permit M-1980-085. The request is for reduction of the required financial
<br />warranty by the amount of $459,904 to account for 2,1001inear feet of pit highwall that has been backfilled. On March 28,
<br />2008 DBMS received a secondary submittal that revised the requested warranty reduction amount to $251,393. This revised
<br />amount accounts for the face of the permanent fill that is 700' long, 67' high, and requires reduction from a .5:1 to 3:1 grade.
<br />Upon review of the permit maps, and taking in to account visual observations during the February 12, 2008 site inspection, it
<br />appears that the fill on the north end of the pit has backfilled approximately 2,100 feet of highwall as reported in the SR-O1
<br />request. The February 12, 2008 site inspection did confirm that the leading edge of the fill, which is still considered to be
<br />active highwall that requires grade reduction, is approximately the same height as the pit highwalls and 700' long. As the
<br />SR-O1 request did not include a map indicating the actual topography and extent of the fill, DBMS used Map C-2 from
<br />recently approved Amendment No. 2 (AM-02) to measure an estimated 1,8001inear feet of excavated highwall remaining to
<br />be reclaimed, in addition to the fill face. This measurement does not include the section of highwall immediately adjacent to
<br />the new mining parcel added by AM-02that is accounted for in Task No. 02a. Adjustment of the recent reclamation cost
<br />estimate to account for backfilling the 1,800 foot highwall and conducting cut and fill reduction of the 700' fill face results in
<br />a warranty reduction of $226,621, or a revised total warranty amount of $804,529.
<br />Upon expiration of the public comment period for SR-01 on Apri19, 2008, and upon receipt of acceptance of this warranty
<br />reduction amount (revised pages enclosed) by_Elam Construction, Inc., DBMS will approve (barring any objections) a surety
<br />reduction in the amount of $226,621. If additional documentation or mapping is submitted, prior to the June 19, 2008
<br />decision date, indicating the remaining highwall dimensions are other than noted above, DBMS will adjust the warranty
<br />reduction amount accordingly. Please notify DBMS as soon as possible if any of the figures noted above are in error, or if
<br />Elam Construction, Inc.
<br />If you need additional information, please contact me at the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, Grand Junction
<br />Field Office, 101 South Third Street, Room 301, Grand Junction, Colorado 81501, telephone no. 970-243-6368.
<br />Sincerely,
<br />-~ ='~~
<br />Steve S. Shuey
<br />Environmental Protection Specialist
<br />Enclosure
<br />Office of Office of
<br />Mined Land Reclamation Denver Grand Junction Durango Active and Inactive Mines
<br />
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