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uVI/V,sS 5 <br />United States Forest Ouray 2505 South Townsend <br />USDA Department of Service Ranger Montrose, CO 81401 <br />Agriculture District Voice: 970-240-5300 <br />TDD: 970-240-5366 <br />MAR 2 2 2010 <br />Division of r<ociamation, <br />Mining and Safety <br />Charles Ponchak <br />Consulting Geologist <br />15292 6050 Rd. <br />Montrose, CO 81403 <br />Dear Mr. Ponchak, <br />File Code: 2820/2720/7720-2-1 <br />Date: March 10, 2010 <br />RECEIVED <br />MAR162010/ <br />GRAND JUNC'noid i. L.) OFFICE <br />DIVISION <br />RECLAVA7I N Ib NING rl SAF <br />{l0 aSFs? <br />Thank you for submitting a letter of response to our January 14, 2010 letter requesting additional <br />information on your Notice of Intent to Conduct Prospecting Operations (NOI) and the Plan of <br />Operations (POO) for the Mount Sneffels Mining Company (the Company) project. <br />Roads: Thank you for the additional information on types and sizes of vehicles using the roads <br />and frequency of trips. The information will be submitted to our Forest Roads Engineer during <br />the environmental analysis, and we will let you know if we need additional information. <br />Time ame: Your description of the timeframe did not include an estimate of the duration of <br />activities occurring on drilling locations on NFS land. Your response to the State which was <br />included in the letter to us, describes the drilling taking several weeks to several months. Can <br />you please estimate how long it will take to build each road, construct a pad, and reclaim the pad <br />and road? For those sites that require two field seasons to accomplish all the work, what <br />additional measures would be taken to prepare the sites for winter, i.e. to stabilize them, <br />minimize drainage problems and sediment transport during snowmelt? <br />It is unlikely that operations on NFS land could begin in as early as mid-summer of this year. <br />The environmental analysis has not commenced, and as part of that analysis, there will need to <br />be site visits by our engineer, wildlife biologist, our recreation planner and a contract <br />archeologist hired by the Company during the summer. They will need to write reports which <br />will be an integral part of the environmental analysis documentation. No work on NFS lands may <br />proceed until a decision is signed, and Road Use Permits and Special Use Permits are signed by <br />the Company and by the FS. <br />Drillpads: thank you for the schematic. As stated in our January 2010 letter, after our site visit <br />there may be a need for the Company to provide engineered plans depending on the complexity <br />of the site. <br />Wildli e: thank you for your comments to further explain your operations in regard to protection <br />of wildlife. We will forward this information to our wildlife biologist during the environmental <br />analysis. <br />Water: thank you. We will review the Stormwater Management Plan during the environmental <br />analysis. <br />Hazardous Materials: We will require secondary containment under diesel fuel and gasoline <br />stored on the drilling pads, and cement to be stored off the ground with containment beneath it. <br />There may be other BMPs for hazmat as the environmental analysis proceeds. <br />Pre-work ieldtrip: As mentioned in our January letter, we would like to set up a pre-work <br />fieldtrip to identify specific road and drillpad locations and discuss with you any additional <br />Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recyded Paper fail