2009-12-23_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - M1977416

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DENISON MINES December 22, 2009 Ms. Jamie Sellar Baker Bureau of Land Management 29211 Hwy. 184 P.O. Box 210 Dolores, Colorado 81323 Mr. Lynn E. Rust Deputy State Director Energy, Land and Minerals Bureau of Land Management Colorado State Office 2850 Youngfield Street Lakewood, Colorado 80215 P @c DEc 2 3 200 Qc �rf1017, ., Denison Mines (USA) Corp. 105017th Street, Suite 950 Denver, CO 60265 USA Tel : 303 628 -7798 Fax: 303 3894125 www.donisonmines.com RECEIVED JAN 0 4 2010 Division of Reciamation, Mining and Safety Subject: Information to Support Denison's Response to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Remand of the Environmental Assessment and the Surface Management Plan of Operations Amendment (COC 52049 07 -1A) Denison Sunday Mines Group, San Miguel County, Colorado n1-- t9')'l-'1'gS ►n— tckgq - y 16 Dear Ms. Sellar -Baker and Mr. Rust: til - » 039 lk?, M . o ss rxf- The attached information addresses the following BLM correspondence: M _ o .. ` • September 17, 2009 remand decision signed by Mr. Lynn Rust, BLM Deputy State Director (and conveyed by email to Denison on October 1, 2009); and ' November 3, 2009 letter to Denison from Ms. Jamie Sellar- Baker, BLM Dolores Public Lands Office. In general, the EA remand decision is based on a lack of baseline data to evaluate potential impacts to soil and groundwater at the mines. It should be noted that the EA was prepared by a third -party contractor under the direction of BLM and that BLM was fully involved in the scoping process for the EA. The development of the EA as well as additional mine permitting activities, such as the development of an environmental protection plan (EPP) (Denison 2009), has demonstrated Denison's commitment to protection of the environment and compliance with applicable federal and state environmental laws, including Title 43 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Subpart 3809 — Land Management (43 CFR 3809). However, prior to additional investment of capital to support BLMs responsibilities under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), it is critical that Denison fully understand the significance of the issues that BLM has identified in order to prevent further inefficiencies, expenditures, and delays to the EA process. Specifically, Denison would like to discuss the proposed action (expansion of one waste rock pile, addition of 10 ventilation holes, and exploration drilling) and the contribution of this action to the concerns raised in the remand decision letter relative to a historical mining area and the pre -law disturbances at the existing mine facilities.