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TDN Response <br />New Horizon Mine <br />April 23, 2010 <br />Page 9 <br />At the mine's option, the topsoil will be salvaged using the techniques described in the <br />section above (2 -lift by blocks), or by the following method: the Lift A topsoil will be <br />stripped in one lift by mine dozers into short-term ( <90 days) stockpiles adjacent to the <br />upper pit highwalls. As the shovel nears the topsoil pile during the course of its normal <br />excavation, a dozer will push the topsoil to the shovel for loading into haul trucks. The <br />haul trucks will transport the material to the spoil side for direct laydown or <br />stockpiling. If direct laydown is used, the topsoil is spaced by haultruck dumping for <br />push spreading by a mine dozer. The laydown thickness is determined by the amount of <br />material immediately in front of the pit versus the available spoil behind the pit, with <br />minimum goal of approximately one foot of laydown thickness. The dozer operator will <br />be guided by either fill stakes in front of the push or by test boring after the push. <br />Because of this process, topsoil redistribution will no longer consist of phased <br />campaigns as in the past, but will be an integral, ongoing part of the mining operation. <br />The Lift B material will consist of suitable material selected from the upper bench and <br />is essentially the same as the uppermost four foot of regraded spoil described in an <br />earlier section. <br />Technical Revision No. 57. A later version of Section 2.05.4(2)(d), approved in TR -57, revises the <br />title of this section to Strinuine Prior to February 2008 and clarifies that: <br />"the (PR -5) 1998/1999 expansion area was stripped in one mixed lift which was <br />basically the A and B lifts combined.... For the eastern portion of the Morgan property, <br />the average mixed lift stripping thickness was 22 inches. The mixed lift is confirmed by <br />the data in the 1998/1999 study, which shows that Lift A on the east portion of the <br />Morgan property is 17 inches thick. In addition, the bench 1 material was stripped and <br />placed as suitable subsoil to a depth of approximately 34 inches." (pages 18 -19, Revised <br />Nov 2008) <br />WFC operated under the above plan for four years on the Morgan property, from the fall of 2003 when <br />WFC initiated topsoil salvage until early 2008. As explained in the prime farmland section, in <br />February 2008, topsoil management plans were changed to maintain the integrity of the prime <br />farmland soils. <br />Field Observations since February 2008 <br />Topsoil salvage, storage and redistribution operations at the New Horizon Mine have been regularly <br />inspected by Division personnel since the presence of Prime Farmland soils was recognized in early <br />2008. Observations made during site inspections and in periodic review of aerial photographs confirm <br />that topsoil activities are conducted according the provisions of TR -57. <br />On the Morgan property, topsoil salvage begins with the removal of Lift A material. Lift A topsoil, <br />typically up to 3 feet in thickness, is stripped westward, using a bulldozer, and pushed into an <br />elongated temporary stockpile. The mine's shovel is then used to scoop the topsoil and load it into <br />haul trucks which carry the material to the designated Lift A stockpile located east of the active pit area <br />on Morgan property. Alfalfa roots are prevalent throughout the entire thickness of Lift A and well into <br />Lift B. <br />