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STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING & SAFETY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 <br />FAX: (303)832.8106 <br />May 26, 2009 <br />JUN 0 5 2009 <br />Division of eec;,:Maon, <br />jri ng and Safety <br />Mr. David A. Baker <br />Newmont Mining Corporation <br />6363 S. Fiddlers Green Circle <br />Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111 <br />Pe • <br />-re9 ?V <br />2009 <br />COLORADO <br />D I V I S I O N O F <br />RECLAMATION <br />MINING <br />SA ETY <br />Bill Ritter <br />Governor <br />Harris Sherman <br />Executive Director <br />Ronald W. Cattany <br />Division Director <br />Natural Resource Trustee <br />Mr. Bill Lyle, Site Manager_ <br />_ <br />Idarado Mining Company <br />P. O. Box 584 <br />Ouray, Colorado 81427 <br />Ms. Denise W. Kennedy <br />Holland & Hart, LLP <br />555 17th Street, Suite 3200 <br />Denver, Colorado 80202 <br />RE: Idarado 2009 Revegetation Monitoring Report <br />Dear Messrs. Baker and Lyle and Ms. Kennedy: <br />?49tT- k tg +4 -403 H-?, <br />J) t? ?bile, gel d tj ?c <br />Thank you for your response, dated April 9, 2009, to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's <br />(CDPHE's) comments on the Revegetation Monitoring Report of Telluride and Red Mountain Tailings Piles: Results <br />from 2008. The State's response to items you raised in the April 9 letter follow: <br />Item 1: Remedial Action Plan (RAP) Revegetation Diversity Requirements <br />Idarado has proposed "that a RAP modification be prepared and submitted relating to the 4 perennial species diversity <br />success criteria be modified and the success criteria be based on Live Cover, Total Cover and Any One Species not <br />being greater than 50%." <br />Although the State concurs with the statement that "re-disturbance of the [tailings] surface to prepare a new seed bed <br />would minimize the effectiveness of the established vegetative cover...", the State believes that diversity remains an <br />important consideration in determining revegetation success. <br />Section 16.2 of the RAP specifies that determination of revegetation success will be measured during the last two <br />years of the evaluation period. Accordingly, the State feels a RAP modification to change revegetation success <br />criteria may be premature at this time. In time, additional native species may continue to volunteer, or other unknown <br />situations may arise. Alternatives including, but not limited to inter-seeding, shrub/tree planting, etc., may help meet <br />the diversity requirements, rather than disturbing the entire revegetated surface.