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Recommendation for Approval <br />Hard Rock/Metal Mining Regular Operation (112) <br />Reclamation Permit Conversion Application (CN1) <br />Mt. Elbert Mining Co., L.L.C. <br />Willow Creek Mine <br />File No. M- 1983 -011 <br />December 21, 2011 <br />Dustin Czapla <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />Environmental Protection Specialist <br />Introduction <br />The purpose of this document is to provide a basis for the Division's recommendation for <br />approval of the Hard Rock/Metal Mining Regular Operation (112) Reclamation Permit <br />Conversion Application (CN1) submitted by Mt. Elbert Mining Co., L.L.C. (Applicant) for the <br />Willow Creek Mine, File No. M -1983 -011, over the objections raised by the Commenting Party. <br />The amended Application was submitted on September 26, 2011 by the Applicant, and found to <br />be complete and considered filed with the Division on September 29, 2011. The Willow Creek <br />Mine is located in Lake County, approximately 9.6 miles southwest of Leadville, and is accessed <br />from County Road 24 on the southeast side of the property. The center of the area where the <br />majority of the mining will occur lies in the Southeast Quarter of Section 6, Township 11 South, <br />Range 80 West of the Sixth Principle Meridian. Approval of CN1 would add 33.88 acres to the <br />existing 9.5 permitted acres, making the total permitted area for this site 43.38 acres. <br />The Willow Creek Mine is an open -pit placer operation. Extraction of the deposit material occurs <br />through use of a front -end loader and dozer. Extracted material is processed onsite by a gravity <br />sluice apparatus that does not require the use of chemicals. <br />The current land use of the area to be incorporated into the permit through CN1 is rangeland, and <br />it is proposed to be reclaimed as such. <br />