Laserfiche WebLink
. (Page 2) <br />MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID # M-1978-091 UG <br />INSPECTION DATE 9/24/09 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS RCO <br />OBSERVATIONS <br />This inspection was performed by the Division as part of its monitoring of Hard Rock/Metals 110 DMO permits and to <br />review the recently completed gulch drainage bypass pipeline (part of Amendment AM-3). The operator was contacted <br />about the scheduled inspection. The operator's representative named on page one was present during the inspection. <br />Also onsite was Bumper Williams (onsite contractor "Underground Specialty Co.") and Dave Lazorchak (BLM Gunnison). <br />The site was active at the time of the inspection. <br />The site is secured by locked gate along the access road. The required permit ID sign was posted on the gate. All permit <br />boundaries (in new locations per AM-3) were posted and observed. All disturbance is contained within the permit <br />boundaries. <br />LEVEL 6 PAD. Overall the pad was neat and orderly. The pad contains a stormwater control berm along the outer crest, <br />except for a small temporary breach behind the doghouse/dry. It will be filled soon, after installation of the electric cable. <br />The diesel storage is double walled and in compliance. A new ore crusher was in place on the Level 6 pad. A pile of <br />about 15 tones of ore was set to dry on the pad near the portal, with a tarp nearby to cover it in case of rain. About 100 <br />tons of crushed ore was sacked and stacked on the pad ready to be carried down to the highway for transportation to be <br />processed. There was a pile of earthen and mining-related debris piled near the gulch at the south end of the pad. It will <br />be removed and disposed of in a dry and stable location up at the Level 3 pad. The portal door, normally locked and <br />secured, was open due to the active mining occurring on the date of this inspection. <br />The pad is graded to drain toward the gulch at the south end, where a berm contains the drainage separate from the <br />gulch runoff. The pad surface is composed of inert material borrowed from Level 3. There was no gulch drainage <br />observed in the upper end of the lined open drainageway at the south end of the pad. The lined open drainageway has <br />been intercepted by the new buried pipeline, and no longer conveys runoff to the bottom of the dump. The non-functional <br />and unnecessary portion of the liner will be removed by the operator and the drainageway footprint regraded for stability. <br />The new buried drainage bypass pipeline installation is completed. The operator has provided a series of interim and a <br />final report of the pipeline construction project, by Judy Kittson, PE, of Buckhorm Engineering. The Division's <br />observations correspond with her final report, concerning placement of limestone in the new runoff channel, pipeline <br />placement, concrete inlet and outlet structures, and riprapped spill apron and sediment pond. There is a rebar inlet trash <br />screen and vertical vent risers. The entire dump slope adjacent to the pipeline is accessible to and can be traversed by <br />tracked equipment for maintenance if needed. Some of the reworked areas near the toe of the dump are in the location of <br />previously observed seeps, but there was no seep observed at this time. There was no flow coming from the pipeline or <br />observed in the gulch below the pipeline and dump. <br />The area of slope failure has not been repaired yet, though no further erosion or sloughing was noted. Discussion onsite <br />included the outstanding need to remediate the failed area and various options for stabilizing it. These included <br />placement of logs and boulders (plentiful onsite) to reduce the velocity of runoff and placement of smaller material to <br />capture sediment and encourage vegetation. Regrading of the upland drainageway, mentioned above, will help by <br />reducing the amount of overland flow reporting to this failed area. The operator stated he would undertake this work <br />during the fall 2009. All work should be reported to this office. <br />LEVEL 3 PAD. This area is used primarily to obtain borrow clean material for the Level 6 area, and to dump earthen and <br />wooden debris, and mining-related debris. The portal is still intact (locked and secured) but the vent fan is no longer <br />there. The new boundary markers were in place, demonstrating that all disturbance is contained within the permit. The <br />numerous debris items dumped down the lower slope in 2008 are still present, but have not been gathered and placed in <br />a stable location by the operator yet. These should be handled this fall, since they are still subject to downslope <br />movement, at least making them harder to gather and place, and possibly causing them to go outside the boundary too. <br />This would include consolidation and possibly burial, to create and prepare a stable dump location in anticipation of <br />additional debris placement. <br />There is a borrow location along the NE edge of the pad, but it is looking as if further removal of material could begin to <br />undercut the hillslope and headward erosion could advance up the hill, potentially damaging offsite areas. Further borrow <br />is discouraged, and the remaining material of the area should be graded to provide slope stability. There is no problem at <br />this time.