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ITEM 5.11.5: Aquifers are not expected to be encountered during this drilling program <br />due to the shallow nature of the drill holes and the fact that the coal strata at Second Park <br />and Cyprus Block is anticipated to be relatively dry because of the numerous deeply <br />incised valleys and drainages cutting through the perimeter of the areas to be drilled, <br />Unlike the New Horizon Mine, most of the areas to be drilled are not irrigated with the <br />exception of the eastern portion of Second Park. <br />If an aquifer is encountered, the location (depth) and thickness of the aquifer will be <br />determined from observations made during the drilling (cuttings lithology, water <br />production from the hole, and the geophysical log). As the hole is plugged prior to <br />abandonment, the aquifer will be cemented off from a depth of 50 feet below the bottom <br />of the aquifer to a depth of 50 feet above the top of the aquifer (see attached typical <br />Abandonment Diagram for Second Park). The cement would be Portland Type II cement <br />with 6 gals of water per sack and would be pumped into the hole (positive displacement) <br />through drill pipe utilizing the drilling rig mud pump. Because of the shallow nature of <br />the proposed drilling program, any aquifers that are encountered may require that the <br />entire hole be cemented from total depth to surface. <br />ITEM 5.B.6: The proposed coal exploration holes are relatively shallow and will vary <br />from about 30 feet deep to about 200 feet deep which includes the 20 feet or so that each <br />pilot hole will be drilled below the mineable coal bed. The average total depth is about 89 <br />feet. Upon reaching total depth of each of the holes, drilling mud consisting of bentonite <br />gel will be mixed to a Marsh funnel viscosity of 50 seconds. The drilling mud will be <br />pumped through the drill pipe, filling the hole from the bottom up. Drilling mud will be <br />added as the pipe is "tripped" out of the hole. The drill rig will then move off the hole and <br />onto another drill location. The hole will then be logged with geophysical tools. After <br />logging, the hole plugging will be completed by placing two 50-pound bags of 3/8" <br />bentonite chips in the hole on top of the thick drilling mud. Experience in the area (New <br />Horizon Mine) suggests that the bentonite mud will recede or drop in most holes only a <br />little (a few feet to 20 or 30 feet). Any remaining open hole will be filled to a depth of 10 <br />feet with cuttings, with the objective of placing as much of the cuttings as possible back <br />into the hole. The open hole from ten feet to the surface will be filled with "sakrete." This <br />method of hole plugging is consistent with the hole plugging procedures incorporated in <br />the New Horizon Mine's Mining Permit C81-008 issued by Colorado Division of <br />Reclamation Mining and Safety (CDRMS) with the exception that the permit calls for the <br />top three feet of the hole to be filled with cuttings and top soil. As the primary existing <br />land use is stock grazing, (the land does not appear to ever have been cultivated) the <br />sakrete concrete plug will extend to the surface. If any holes do fall on cultivated fields <br />the hole plugging procedure from the New Horizon Mine will be incorporated. An <br />aluminum cap with the hole identifier will be placed in the top of the cement plug to <br />complete the hole plugging procedure. <br />ITEM 5.11.7: No exploration holes are to be developed as water wells