_INSPECTION - C1981022 ‎(36)‎

• Permit No: C1981022
• IBM Index Class Name: INSPECTION
• Doc Name: Inspection Report
• Inspection Date: 1/29/2009
• Email Name: MLT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Ill. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE
Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made
during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection
and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action.
This was a Partial Inspection of the Elk Creek Mine conducted by Marcia Talvitie of the Colorado
DRMS beginning at 9:00 a.m. on 29-Jan-2009. Jim Kiger represented the operator, Oxbow
Mining LLC (OMLLC), during the inspection. The weather was clear and cold.
Facilities inspected included those along the Elk Creek drainage; the East Yard; Substation No. 3;
and construction activities at the newly permitted Bear Creek Fansite Facility (TR-60).
Roads
• The West Valley Haul Road, Elk Creek Haul Road, and Pond D Light Use Road were all frozen
and dry, plowed clear of snow. The Mine Access Road and office parking areas were wet
with melting snow and partially frozen. Access to Pond C was attempted, but the Light Use
Road was blocked by a berm of plowed-up snow.
• Roadway access to the Bear Creek Fansite Facility was rough, although passable by 4-
wheel-drive. Warm weather in the preceding weeks had apparently partially melted some
snow cover, and then the area had received a new accumulation of snow a few days prior
to the inspection. The road was intermittently muddy and frozen, and rutted by construction
traffic.
Hydrologic Balance
• The surface of Pond D was frozen, as was the East Yard pond, with no inflow or discharge.
The pond at Substation No. 3 was partially filled with snow.
• At the Bear Creek Fansite Facility, black flexible pipe approximately 8" in diameter has been
installed to allow any flows in Bear Creek from upstream to safely bypass the construction
area. The pipe passes through an existing steel culvert pipe (Figure 1) and between straw
bales on its return to the natural channel (Figure 2). Wattles and straw bales had been
installed uphill of the excavation in advance of any disturbance, and prior to the most
recent snowfall.
Topsoil
• Topsoil along the Bear Creek channel at the Fansite Facility was being removed by two
excavators and a D6N bulldozer, and being hauled to the designated stockpile area by a
team of rubber-tired front-end loaders (Figure 3).
General Mine Plan Compliance
• Construction at the Bear Creek Fansite Facility was in its very early stages, and disturbance
was limited to that which is necessary for pipe installation. OMLLC plans to have the pipe,
which will carry Bear Creek beneath the Fansite Facility, installed and backfilled prior to the
onset of spring runoff. The pipe will be Reinforced Concrete Pipe, 6 feet in diameter, and will
Elk Creek Mine C=1981-022 29-Jan-2009
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