2009-11-15_INSPECTION - C1981025

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III. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made during the inspection. Comments in Section IV describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. Page 1/2 North Thompson Creek C -81 -025 9 November 2009 This was a complete inspection of the North Thompson Creek Mine conducted on 9 November 2009 by Jim Stark of the CDRMS. The mine has been reclaimed and the operator has applied for a final Phase III Bond Release (SL -06) for a portion of the Site. The Division is still considering this Bond Release application. The weather was warm and overcast and the ground was dry. Availability of records: All of the necessary records were available at the Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood Springs. The records were checked on the afternoon of 9 November 2009. See the records checklist at the end of this inspection for more details. Signs and Markers: - Mine ID signs were in place and in good condition at both the #1 Portal entrance and the #3 Portal entrance. The signs contained all of the necessary information (including permit number, mine name, operator and contact information). Roads: - The mine entrance road was well maintained and stable at the time of the inspection. The road was lightly bladed this summer to remove the ruts that had developed. There was no rutting at the ti of the inspection. No erosion problems were noted on the road. - The road around the treatment ponds (T1 and T2) was stable and well maintained at the time of the inspection. This road was also lightly bladed this summer to remove the ruts. No ruts or erosional problems were noted on the road. Hydrologic Balance: - The long pond was stable and well vegetated at the time of the inspection. Both the #1 Portal and the #3 Portal were discharging, with the #3 Portal having a greater discharge than the #1 Portal. The two discharges together were approximately 5 gallons /minute. There was some iron staining on the rocks, dirt and vegetation at the beginning of the long pond as the oxidized iron precipitates out of the discharge. - Treatment Ponds T1 and T2 were both full at the time of the inspection. T1 was discharging into T2 and T2 was discharging into the river. The discharge from T2 was approximately 5 gallons /minute, which is the same as the combined discharge from the #1 and #3 Portals. There was no iron staining one any of the rocks, dirt or vegetation at the discharge point from treatment pond T2, indicating that the long pond is doing its job at reducing the iron concentration from the portal discharges. Both of these ponds were well vegetated and no erosional problems were noted on either pond embankment at the time of the inspection. - Sediment pond P9 contained a small amount of water from T2. The landowner will use the discharge from T2 to fill P9 for livestock use. The pond embankment was well vegetated and appeared to be stable at the time of the inspection. No erosional problems were noted on the embankment. Ba�ckfilling and Grading: - The reclaimed #1 Portal area remained stable at the time of the inspection. There was no cracking, settling or slumping noticed in the backfill and no erosional problems were noted. - The reclaimed #3 Portal area remains stable as well. The small sink -hole that opened up in 2007 was fixed and the area is no longer visible. No cracking or settling was seen in the backfill and there were no erosional problems noted.