2011-10-12_PERMIT FILE - X201123003 (2)

Home Browse Search

9.0 RECLAMATION PROCEDURES 9.1 Drill Hole Plugging All drill holes will be grout- cemented through coal- bearing strata, with cement extending 50 feet above and below the minable coal bed. The remainder of the hole will be cemented or backfilled with cuttings and mud to ten feet below the surface. The cement will be placed by the drilling rig through the drill rods or poured from the surface by cement truck. The hole will be grout- cemented in the upper 10 feet to the original ground surface. Hole markers will be cemented into the top of each hole at ground level, using aluminum caps marked with the hole identification number. 9.2 Surface Reclamation Reclamation of disturbed areas will be initiated following site abandonment in mid -late summer or fall. Drill hole sites will be re- contoured and seeded. Access roads that did not previously exist will be scarified and seeded. Water bars will be constructed where necessary. Seed rates of pounds per live seed per acre for broadcasting will be consistent with the seed mix approved for the Deserado Mine identified as `Interim & Drill Sites' with the seeding rate for desert and Siberian wheatgrass cut in half and the rates for western, beardless, bluebunch, and slender wheatgrass rates doubled. This revised mix is presented in Item C at the end of this application. The White River FO will also comprise an all or mostly native seed mix to test on several drill sites where cheatgrass does not appear to be a threat. Additional reclamation techniques may be tested at the direction of the BLM. 10.0 EXPLORATION SCHEDULE The proposed drilling is intended to identify the B -Seam reserves along the margins of the Deserado Mine. The mining limits will likely be identified before all of the holes are drilled and several holes may be omitted from the program, as they become unnecessary or due to budget considerations. 11