2011-07-01_INSPECTION - C1981008

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June 15, 2011 C- 1981- 008/New Horizon Mine MLT amount of time that has elapsed since this field was seeded (1994 - 1996). • Irrigation water was turned "off' for the areas east of 2700 Road, in preparation for the fields to be hayed (first cutting), once the sampling is completed. • To the south of the permit area, across Calamity Draw, the first cutting of hay was under way on property owned by Mel Staats. The Staats family is also the farming contractor for the majority of parcels within the permit area. The exceptions are the Burbridge and WFC /Garvey parcels (farmed by Burbridge) and the Morgan parcel (which will most likely be farmed by Morgan). An area of reclaimed Dryland Pasture north of 5th Road (Photo 9) is included in the Phase III bond release SL12 application. • On the Lloyd property, an area of 14.2 acres was seeded with winter wheat. This temporary planting, together with the Dryland Pasture area abutting it to the east, were both exhibiting good vegetative cover (Photo 10). • Irrigated Pasture Reference Area • A 0.5 -acre portion of the reference area was treated for quackgrass infestation in 2010. The area was subsequently re- seeded, and was being irrigated at the time of the inspection using gated pipe and furrows (Photo 11). The quackgrass- treated area will be excluded from the IP reference area sampling effort this year. • Irrigation of the remainder of the reference area had ceased, in preparation for vegetation sampling and subsequent grazing by livestock. Vegetative cover, including brome, fescue and timothy, appeared to be vigorous. • The overgrazed area in the southwestern corner of the field, that is not included within the reference area, was covered predominantly with downy brome, hairy chess, foxtail, and kochia (Photo 12). Some of the ground was bare. The operator had mowed the southern half of the overgrazed area, perhaps attempting to mitigate the undesirable species prior to their seeds maturing. SUPPORT FACILITIES - Rule 4.04: • The fuel depot and material storage areas were found to be well maintained. Petroleum products are stored with secondary containment, and tanks are clearly identified. SIGNS AND MARKERS — Rule 4.02: • The annual Applicant Violator System (AVS) inspection was accomplished, and results were reported to the Denver office of the DRMS. Information posted on the Mine Identification sign was found to correlate with information provided by Lance Wade, Mine Manager. SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF MINING — Rules 4.22 through 4.27: Rule 4.25 Prime Farmlands • There were no active topsoil salvage, stockpiling, or redistribution operations occurring at the time of this inspection. • In situ topsoil layers on the Morgan property, as exposed at the current limits of topsoil removal, are highly variable in thickness. Lift A ranges from approximately 18 inches at the southern end to less than 6 inches in the middle, and thickens to as much as 56 inches in the north (Photo 13). Lift B thicknesses are also variable. The cause of this variability appears to be the undulatory nature of the top surface of the Bench 1 material that underlies Lift B. This Bench 1 surface rises in the middle of the Morgan property, causing the topsoil and subsoil to be thinner there than they are to the south and north, where the Bench 1 surface is Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 8 Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 4 Page 4 of 14