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2. Original Terrain and Determination of Wetlands <br />The enclosed Map C-1 from the DRMS Amendment application shows the original site prior <br />to disturbance. The original site was an elevated terrace of dry rangeland, well above Woody <br />Creek and the Roaring Fork River. No irrigation existed on the pre-mine site and no drainages <br />of any kind also existed. The pre-mine site was a relatively flat field comprised of sagebrush <br />and some native range grasses. This same vegetation community exists immediately adjacent <br />to the site at the south end and southwest end. No wetlands of any kind existed in the pre- <br />mine area, both for the existing disturbance and the future disturbance. A small ephemeral <br />stream exists a short distance east of the expansion area, but it is clearly seen on Maps C-1 <br />and C-2 that this gully is outside of the permit area and will not be affected by the operation. <br />Only the very lowest portion of this stream has any riparian area, which gets its water from <br />the drainage area of the stream itself. No springs or seeps are located on the hillside of the <br />mining area which feed the drainage. As is seen from Map C-3, Cross Section B-B' shows the <br />stream in relation to the mining of the expansion area. It is seen that the mining is leaving the <br />stream area unaffected. <br />It is also seen from Cross Sections A-A' and B-B' that the existing mining is approximately <br />38 feet deep from the flat terrace and no water has been encountered in the pit except on rare <br />occasions, surface water from storms accumulate and, in the past, a short time occurred where <br />some groundwater was encountered. This area was backfilled and no water has been <br />encountered since. The surface water from storms is allowed to filter back into the <br />groundwater. In short, there is no surface water available to produce wetlands in the permit <br />area and the groundwater is very deep. <br />The mining area is also well outside the floodplains of both Woody Creek and the Roaring <br />Fork River. <br />3. Additional Data <br />A report done by Rare Earth Science LLC in 2006 (based on an earlier report by the same <br />company) provides information regarding the water situation at the mine. It states that mining <br />activities take place well above the groundwater surface (page 1). This report is enclosed as <br />Appendix A. <br />Appendix B contains the baseline vegetation information from the DRMS permit amendment <br />application. It contains pictures of the pre-mine vegetation, which show dry rangeland with no <br />wetlands. <br />Appendix C contains the maps mentioned in this report, which are part of the DRMS <br />application. <br />4