1983-10-07_INSPECTION - M1977378

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' STANDARD METALS CORPORATION P.O. Box 247 Silverton, Colorado 81433 (303) 387-5533 pabb '_417 1gQ3 Mr. Mike Stanton Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division , 423 Centennial Building 1313 Sherman Street Denver Colorado 80220 d Re: August 30, 1983, Inspection Report ,,,,Pile No. 77-378 Dear Mike: On August 30, 1933, I accompanied Division personnel , Messrs Loye and Beavers , on an inspection of our Silverton facilities and related reclamation activities. On September 15, I received a copy of the ensuant inspection report summarizing results of the site visit, which denoted the existence of possible violations of the mining permit issued for the Silverton operation. Since no permit violations were discussed during the site inspection, the inspection report as received was unanticipated. However, in accordance with replication stipulations of the inspection report, I have submitted all pertinent information re- garding activities implemented to achieve compliance with report recom- mendations, specifically: Report Recommendations --- 1. Revegetation work should be continued and expanded in scope as soon as possible. Reclamation procedures employed on disturbed acreages at the Silverton site have been and will continue to be effected with expedience. We believe reclamation efforts and resultant success achieved to date to- ward attaining reclamation goals to be above expectations when the number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors limiting success are considered (i .e. , climate, species diversity, substrate composition) . Plans for expanding successful reclamation procedures to additional affected acreages are in progress; however, we are continually refining reclamation methods em- ployed on disturbed sites , particularly abandoned mill tailings deposition sites. Consequently, we feel that a slower controlled rate of reclama- tion practice expansion to be more beneficial , both technically and eco- nomically, toward achieving reclamation goals. For example, a revegeta- tion planting failure is easier to diagnose over a smaller area than a large tract. Once confidence is gained in a successful reclamation pro- cedure for a disturbance type (i .e. , tailing, waste rock) , we will attempt to effect expanded reclamation on these sites as soon as possible. This practice has already been implemented on certain minor disturbance areas requiring less intensive reclamation procedures.