2009-06-30_PERMIT FILE - M2009018 (8)

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Varra Companies, Inc. Office of Special Projects 8120 Ciaa`e Street Frederick, Colorado 80516 Telephone (970) 353-8310 Fax (970) 353-4047 Ownership of the Seep defaults to the owner of the seep wherein the seep lies. We maintain ownership and control of the seep within the permit area. A signed affidavit is included. 12. Please indicate how the seep ditch and the Last Chance Ditch will be protected during mining operations. The Last Chance Ditch is located immediately north of the stockpile and plant area, how will the Operator prevent material from being eroded into the structure? The Last Chance Ditch is located outside of the permit boundary and is a water conveyance structure of limited conductance that will not be affected significantly by local groundwater hydrology or planned operations relative to stability as evaluated by CGRS in their groundwater study, and an earlier Stability Analysis report contained in Exhibit S of the application. Exhibit S provides the necessary evaluation that slope failure from planned operations will not occur. The groundwater study is also included with this reply as it concerns planned ground water discharge and any resulting cone of depression and correlated impacts to area waters. The study indicates there will be no impacts from such activity on the Last Chance Ditch as it passes just outside the Northwest corner of our permit area. The concrete lined lateral from the Last Chance Ditch is the structure referenced in the Office's adequacy review, and is not owned by the Last Chance Ditch Company. The concrete lined lateral from the Last Chance Ditch is owned and controlled by the owner of Varra Companies, Inc., Pasquale Varra, as it occurs within the confines of the designated permit boundary (refer to included affidavit). The lateral is offset from planned extraction approximately 25.0± to 43.0f from its center. The topography along the lateral is essentially flat and all extraction will direct precipitation events into the pit and away from area drainages. Additionally, the grassed border or existing road running along the lateral will not be affected by extraction and will continue to function as a buffer to the lateral from planned activities. 13. Please specify if the visual berm will be removed upon the completion of mining. The berm may contain soil, or overburden and clean fill separately, and will be pushed into and used along the finished grade of the reclaimed pit walls to the extent necessary to meet stated minimum soil depths, as part of preparation of the completed slopes for revegetation. Any remaining bermed material may be used to enhance the post mine development, but is not anticipated to alter the designated post mine elevations to a significant extent. A final reclamation map will be submitted to the Office at the time of release request showing the final configuration and approximate contours for the finished site. 14. The Mning Plan states that mined materials will be conveyed to the Kurtz Project plant via a conveyor connecting the Heintzelman Project (Pit 116) to the Kurtz Project plant. The Varra Companies, Inc. correspondence of 30 June 2009 to the Colorado Office of Mined Land Reclamation 6 (Office) in reply to Office correspondence of 12 May 2009 - Heintzelman Project - M2009-018.