Laserfiche WebLink
TECHNICAL REVISION #16 - COMPLETION OF ROBINSON LAKE SEDIMENT REMOVAL <br />Climax Molybdenum Company <br />Climax Mine - Permit # M-1977-493 <br />28 June 2010 <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />The Climax Mine (Climax) is a molybdenum mining and milling operation wholly owned and operated by the <br />Climax Molybdenum Company (CMC). Climax is located in the historic Consolidated Tenmile Mining <br />District within a private land block of approximately 14,300 acres straddling the Continental Divide at <br />Fremont Pass. The land ownership lies within Lake, Summit, Eagle, and Park Counties. Climax, one of the <br />world's largest primary producers of molybdenum, was generally in continual operation from about 1917 until <br />the mid-1980s. Climax operated briefly in 1995. Climax remains a viable operation with ongoing and <br />documented closure/reclamation and composting operations, dust control, water treatment and compliance <br />management, and general property management activities. It is estimated that remaining economic ore <br />reserves at Climax total approximately 209 million tons. <br />The Mining and Reclamation Permit (Permit) required under the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act of <br />1976 (Act) was approved by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board (MLRB) in late 1977 (Permit M- <br />77-493). The Permit was formally amended in 1980 (AM-01), 1989 (AM-02), 1997 (AM-03), 2001 (AM-04), <br />and 2006 (AM-05). In May 2010, Climax submitted an application for AM-06. This latest proposed <br />amendment to Permit M-1977-493 is currently under review by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining, and Safety (DRMS). In addition, 15 Technical Revisions (TR) to the Permit have been approved by <br />the DRMS. <br />2.0 TECHNICAL REVISION - Robinson Lake Sediments Removal <br />Sediment removal from Robinson Lake in 2010 will complete a project initiated in 2008 under TR-15. The <br />currently proposed TR-16 will address the removal of remaining precipitates and sediments and, where <br />possible, native materials from Robinson Lake. Native materials will be removed as growth media for use in <br />reclamation activities. This project will reclaim Robinson Lake through removal of the sediments, reclaim <br />portions of 1 Dam and Robinson TSF using native materials and topsoil salvaged from beneath the sediments, <br />and reclaim and expand the storage capacity of the reservoir for future production. <br />Robinson Lake is located on the Climax Mine property in the East Fork Eagle River drainage. The reservoir <br />was constructed in 1936 as process water storage for mining operations. Over time, influent water quality <br />required treatment by the addition of quicklime (CaO) and fly ash to maintain pH in the water pool for <br />maintaining pump and pipeline integrity and for use in the milling and flotation circuits. Over a period of <br />years significant amounts of lime and metal hydroxide precipitates were deposited in the reservoir which <br />reduced available water storage capacity in the reservoir. <br />In order to reclaim lost water storage capacity due to sediment accumulation over time and ensure adequate <br />storage in the reservoir for future operations, Climax desires to extend the precipitate and sediment removal <br />program that was initiated in 2008. As with the 2008 effort, the reservoir must be drawn down as low as <br />possible to allow for this work to be performed prior to re-filling of the reservoir. Estimated quantities of <br />materials to be removed include approximately 800,000 cubic yards of accumulated precipitates and <br />sediments and approximately 200,000 cubic yards of native materials from the lower portion of the reservoir.