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DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 <br />FAX: (303) 832-8106 <br />09 February 2012 <br />Tora Bird <br />Manager of Coal Services <br />GCC thergy — king Coal Mine <br />• Road 120 <br />Hesperus, CO 81326 <br />. 10 1 11: 1 <br />'go <br />III <br />NUNN <br />MINING <br />LL &— <br />SAFETY <br />John W. Hickenlooper <br />Governor <br />Mike King <br />Executive Director <br />Loretta E. Pifleda <br />Director <br />You telephoned me yesterday to discuss the pending Technical Revision (TIC) application that <br />will address the use of Coal Mine Waste, or "gob", to backfill highwalls at the King I site. <br />GC 's mining engineer, Mr. Bill Balaz, of TetraTech, also participated in the discussion. <br />The tipple area highwall, and shop area highwall shown on Map King 1-010 will be <br />back -filled in 2foot lifts to a slope of 2:1 utilizing mine waste and fill rock. The <br />benches however, will be graded and contoured to a 2.5:1 slope gradually sloping to <br />3:1. <br />Mr. Balaz said that GCC now wishes to construct the highwall backfill (does this also include the <br />benches?) at flatter, 4:1 slopes, understanding that this will contribute to greater erosional <br />stability of the fill. <br />Our telephone conversation then turned to the question of how the gob should be emplaced in <br />these areas, in order to satisfy the requirements of the rules. The key issue is whether coal mine <br />waste used to backfill a highwall needs to meet the standards applicable to gob that is stored in a <br />refuse pile, or whether the alternate use (as backfill) allows the application of alternate standards. <br />Following our conversation, I reviewed the Coal Regulations, and compiled a list of the various <br />rules that are, or may be, pertinent to the discussion at hand: <br />Off ire of Office of <br />Mined Land Reclamatson Denver - Grand Junction ® Durango Active and Inactive Mines <br />