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2. Surface Mining <br />Initial mining operations on the Monogram Mine will be surface mining of the exposed knob of <br />ore adjacent to the Monogram Pit at the southeast end of the patented Monogram Claim. As <br />shown on the insert detail of Map C-2 and Photographs 1-6, the existing pit is a low area or <br />excavated road between two small highwalls. Currently this pit is about 20 to 40 feet wide by <br />100 feet long with ore exposed in the floor and on the adjacent walls where small adits are <br />evidence of previous underground mining of high grade pockets. The pit floor will be lowered <br />by removal of ore at the base while maintaining at least a three foot high natural rock berm <br />around each of the edges. Potential precipitation runoff from the mined area will be collected in <br />this sediment pond, allowing suspended solids to settle out of solution before using the water for <br />dust suppression of the mining operation. Below the pit floor is a silty and clayey horizon of the <br />lower Morrison Formation (see Photograph 5) which will continue to prevent any downward <br />leaching of the ore as it is being removed. <br />The area to be disturbed covers about 2 acres. The limited available topsoil will be stockpiled <br />for reclamation. An overburden stockpile will be established south of the ore area on an exposed <br />bedrock surface to cover approximately of 0.2 acres. The top of the knob is barren waste rock <br />and will be moved by an excavator and placed in the bottom of the pit. Excess waste rock will <br />be stored in the overburden stockpile. The ore body will be broken up in place by the excavator <br />and then either loaded directly into ore trucks for shipping to a mill, or moved to the ore bins for <br />temporary storage. Fugitive dust will be minimal because of mitigation by spraying water on the <br />ore as it is broken and by spraying the haul road. Also, the trucks will be covered with tarps <br />prior to leaving the mine site. Ore haulage will be done by contractors who using 20-ton covered <br />end dumps or similar, which can be loaded by the loader, or back up the existing road to the ore <br />body for direct loading by the excavator. The contractors will be required to obtain all necessary <br />permits and clearances, follow National, Colorado, and Utah Department of Transportation <br />regulations including establishment of spill control plans. The primary haulage route will be via <br />the previously described Montrose County roads to Colorado State Highway 90 and either west <br />through La Sal, Utah, or east to Colorado State Highway 141 and south to US Route 666 and <br />westward towards Blanding, Utah and Dennison's White Mesa Mill. <br />The surface ore body is estimated to cover approximately one acre and range from 2 to 15 feet <br />thick. Samples of the ore rock and the cap rock (from area shown in Photograph 3) were <br />submitted to Evergreen Analytical for chemical analyses which are included as Appendix B. <br />Only small sections about 30 ft by 30 ft by 3 ft deep will be mined at a time, which is 2700 cubic <br />feet or about 225 tons. Thus, removing waste rock and breaking up a section of ore is estimated <br />to take about two weeks. Contract ore trucks will be called as needed to ship the ore. Assuming <br />about 10,000 tons of ore in place at the Monogram Mine, ore removal could require about three <br />years. With reclamation occurring concurrently, the removal of ore and restoration of the <br />Monogram Mine area could be complete within six months after the mining finishes. <br />Recognizing weather delays and potential equipment failures, plus other unknown factors, <br />Nuvemco estimates about 42 months for the completion of the Monogram Mine surface mining <br />operation. <br />Monogram Mine - November 2008 <br />D-2