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r <br />February 21, 2012 <br />Mr. Eric Scott <br />Environmental Protection Specialist <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St. Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />RE: Climax Mine, Permit No. M- 1977 -493, Technical Revision (TR) -19 - Property <br />Discharge Water Treatment Plant (PDWTP) <br />Dear Mr. Scott, <br />ZClimax Mo/ybdenum <br />A Freeport - McMoRan Company <br />ecs, *tk <br />Climax Mine <br />Highway 91 - Fremont Pass <br />Climax, CO 80429 <br />Phone (719) 486 -7718 <br />Fax (719) 486 -2251 <br />The Climax Molybdenum Company, Climax Mine plans to construct the Property Discharge Water <br />Treatment Plant (PDWTP) in early 2012 as an upgrade to the existing water treatment and <br />management system. As described in the current Environmental Protection Plan (EPP) submitted <br />and approved as TR -18, the PDWTP will be an Environmental Protection Facility (EPF). This TR <br />submittal is intended to provide information regarding the design of the plant to satisfy the <br />requirements of Rule 7.3 and to obtain Division approval to initiate construction of the facility. <br />As described in the AM -06 application, the PDWTP will provide second -stage metals removal in <br />preparation for implementing Phase II of the Climax water management system, when tailing will be <br />deposited on the Mayflower TSF. Engineering and design of the PDWTP is currently underway and <br />is expected to be complete by the start of the construction season in late spring, 2012. The design <br />has been advanced to a point to allow detailed design of all plant elements to proceed. The <br />information being provided with this TR represent General Arrangement drawings issued for <br />detailed design and are sufficient to allow the Division's review under Rule 7.3. Climax would like <br />to have all permitting for the project completed by the end of April, 2012 so that construction can <br />begin immediately upon receipt of all permits in May. This schedule is needed so that the PDWTP <br />can become operational by summer 2014, when tailing could be deposited in the Mayflower TSF. <br />Among the other permits Climax is pursuing related to this facility is the issuance of an Army Corps <br />of Engineers (Corps) Nationwide 404 permit. A Pre - Construction Notification and Wetland <br />Mitigation Plan were submitted to the Corps and they are currently in the process of being reviewed. <br />As we have discussed previously, in accordance with 33 CFR Part 332.3(n), the Corps is requesting <br />financial assurance to ensure a high level of confidence that the compensatory mitigation project will <br />be successfully completed in accordance with the standards described in the mitigation plan. To <br />accommodate this request, the Corps has agreed to consider the existing reclamation bond held by <br />the DRMS to provide the necessary assurance, subject to the approval of this TR by the Division. <br />This is discussed more fully within the attached TR. <br />RECEIvEC <br />FEB 2 1 <br />Division of Reclarnatjrr,. <br />Mining & Safety <br />