2008-10-17_INSPECTION - M1980244

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ORIGINAL - PUBLIC FILE (Page 2) MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID #: m-19Rn-944 INSPECTION DATE: IQ/?/_8/10.11'3/1)8 INSPECTORS INITIALS: -@K OBSERVATIONS The Division conducted a monthly monitoring of the site on 10/7/08. The Division had scheduled to conduct the monthly inspection on 10/7/08. On 10/6/08, while conducting inspections in Fremont County, the Division received a phone call from Mr. Mark Vanoni to call him back. At 9:30 a.m, I received a detailed e mail about a spill that occurred outside the lined area along the west side of the Phase IV pad area. In his e mail Mark explained that "at approximately midnight, operations during their routine inspections noticed a small area(6' x33'x6") of dampness on the perimeter road of Phase IVC, (Squaw saddle) at the toe of the severe portion of the perimeter road slope. Flow was immediately shut off (solution application) on the saddle slopes along the North side of the recently placed lifts. No solution was flowing on the surface of the road, it was more a capillary effect. The dampness was confined to the road. All the contaminated area was removed and placed on the VLF. Based on the pore volume of the total material that was saturated, the wad cyanide concentration for the PSSA PHASE IV pond, the volume of solution that was outside the lined area was approximately 180 gallons. The CC&V permit requires the operator to report spills in excess of 10ponds /ton Sodium Cyanide which is approximately 1,000 gallons. A trench was immediately dug just inside the perimeter Drain Cove Fill BERM TO CUTOFF SOLUTION WITH IN THE Drain Cover Fill from flowing toward the perimeter of the pad. In the process of excavating the trench( in night time conditions), the liner was torn. The penetration has been isolated from solution flow and will possibly be repaired today, but more likely tomorrow. ERD personnel were on site Saturday morning to verify site conditions and remedial activities. Operations kept a close eye on the area over the weekend. As of 10/6/08, there was no evidence of continued capillary action. Dr. John Luppo P.E, the design engineer, was going to be on site 10/7/08, to recommend long term resolution of the issues". Since I had already planned to be on site,.on 10/7/08 to conduct my monthly inspection and since this area had problems since 2007,and the operator reported the incident even though the amount of spill is below the permit conditions reporting criteria, and all the remedial actions had been taken by the operator, I continued my Fremont County inspections. On 10/7/08 with Dr. John Luppo P.E., Mark Vanoni, Gary Goodrich, Tim Comer & Low Billingly present, met at the area of concern and discussed the permanent SOLUTION for the delivery system. The following was agreed upon by all parties. 1) CC&V WILL SUBMIT A Technical Revision to the permit to construct a double lined dam along the inter phase ditch, as part of the extension of the valley leach facility to handle the total anticipated flow plus the maximum precipitation that could contribute flow to the area with in three weeks. 2) No solution application will be allowed along the west facing portion of the Phase IV C pad until the TR is approved, and the dam is constructed and certified by the P.E. 3) In the interim, CC&V will channel the solution flow from the are into a solid 4 inch pipe so it can be measured weekly, and flow reported to DRMS ON A WEEKLY BASIS. The solid pipe was placed on Thursday 10/9/08.Flow was at 16.4 gpm. Flow on 10/10/08 was at 2.2 GPM as measured by DRMS, FLOW ON 10/13/08 WAS AT 0.75 GPM. Based on the current flow measurement the maximum flow that will be allowed until the dam is constructed will be 18.4 gpm as agreed upon by both DRMS and CC&V. 4) Production crew will inspect the area every 6 hours until the DAM is constructed and certified, after that the frequency of monitoring will be the revert back to the normal shift frequency.