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EXHIBIT L <br />RECLAMATION COSTS <br />The following information necessary to calculate reclamation costs has been prepared <br />under the "worst-case" scenario that could occur in the event that the Yankee Gulch <br />Sodium Minerals Project (Yankee Gulch Project) were to shut down during commercial <br />operations. The assumption is that the worst-case scenario would represent the <br />maximum amount of reclamation that could be required. An inventory of roads, piping, <br />buildings, and other structures necessary for operation of the project is provided below. <br />Estimated reclamation costs have not been included because the Colorado Division of <br />Reclamation, Mining and Safety provides and uses its own reclamation cost schedule. <br />LA Piceance Site Reclamation <br />The Piceance Site consists of one major component that would require reclamation, the <br />solution mining well field. As development continues the well field could consist of up to <br />six 5-year mining panels. The well field is where the actual solution mining occurs, as <br />discussed below. <br />L.1.1 Well Field Reclamation <br />Each of the six mining panels in the solution mining well field will be reclaimed after <br />mining in the respective panel has been completed. Therefore, the maximum area of <br />required reclamation for the well field would be one full mining panel, plus any additional <br />structures that are constructed during the first year of operation of the subsequent <br />mining panel. For example, reclamation of the 0-5 year mining panel would begin at <br />approximately the same time as well field initiation in the 5-10 year mining panel. <br />Reclamation of a given mine panel would include: 1) drill pads and associated <br />temporary access roads, 2) piping (of which there are three categories: main header <br />piping, lateral piping, and individual well piping), and 3) plugging and abandoning of <br />solution mining wells. <br />Drill Pad and Associated Temporary Access Road Reclamation <br />The average drill pad size for a solution mining well is estimated to be 0.28 acre (150 X <br />80 feet). The average disturbed area would be closer to 0.5 acre for each pad. Each <br />pad would have site-specific topography such that the amount of topsoil removed would <br />be different. However, the average amount of topsoil removed for each drill pad is <br />estimated to be 6 inches. Therefore, approximately 400 cubic yards of soil per pad <br />would be removed and stockpiled. Topsoil would be stockpiled on the edge of the drill <br />pad so that the maximum distance soil would be relocated during drill pad reclamation <br />would be 150 feet. <br />Detailed analysis of cut and fill volumes for the 0-5 year mining panel was performed by <br />Agapito and Associates, Inc. (Agapito). The 0-5 year panel was selected because the <br />L-1