2011-05-23_INSPECTION - C1981008 (2)

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May 11, 2011 C- 1981- 008/New Horizon Mine MLT • Since 2008, water pumped from the pit floor has been directed to Pond 011, which is located on the Morgan property. Pond 011 was being dewatered (by pumping) at the time of the inspection; the operator had recently re- directed pit water to Pond 013, which is located on property owned by Western Fuels. The floor of Pond 011, exposed by the draw -down of the water level, was covered with unidentified aquatic plants (Photo 11). • Water from the pit continues to be pumped first to the elevated water tank located at the northeast comer of Pond 011. Any water that is not needed for dust control then flows, under gravity, through a 6 -inch HDPE pipe to Pond 013 (Photo 12). The water level in Pond 013 had begun to rise due to the inflow of pit water, but had not yet reached the level of the valves. No discharge was occurring. • Construction of Pond 015 and the associated temporary diversion ditch has been completed. The ditch was constructed along a gradual gradient beginning just north of the elevated water tank. A series of clear water diversions has been constructed upslope of the ditch leading to Pond 015. These ditches will capture flow from undisturbed areas, and route it into 15" corrugated metal pipes (CMPs) placed in natural drainages that are crossed by the Pond 015 ditch. ROADS —Rule 4.03 Construction 4.03.1(3)/4.03.2(3); Drainage 4.03.1(4)/4.03.2(4); Surfacing and Maintenance 4.03.1(5) and (6)/4.03.2(5) and (6); Reclamation 4.03.1(7)/4.03.2(7): Roads throughout the permit area were wet on the surface due to precipitation that had occurred overnight and in the morning prior to the inspection. Moisture had penetrated less than 1 inch into the exposed surfaces, making walking and driving somewhat slippery, but not causing vehicles to bog down and not resulting in thick accumulations of mud on boot soles. REVEGETATION — Rule 4.15 Vegetative Cover; Timing: Sideroll sprinklers were in operation on all of the Irrigated Pasture reclamation east of 2700 Road - the Staats, Benson - South, Moore, San Miguel Power, Burbridge, Western Fuels, and Benson -East parcels. DOCUMENTS RECEIVED • No documents were received during the inspection. The operator provided the Division with data from the mine's weather station for the period of May 9 through May 11. This data was emailed to the Division on the evening of May 11 and the morning of May 12, 2011. The weather data is processed automatically by an electronic unit (Davis Weather Wizard) installed at the mine office (Photo 13). A copy of the printout provided by Western Fuels is attached to this report (Attachment #1). A narrative description of topsoil - related activities for May 10 and l l th was provided by the operator on May 13 along with spreadsheets documenting equipment hours. These documents are also included with this inspection report as Attachments 92 and #3. Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 8 Number of Comylete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 3 Page 6 of 14