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INTRODUCTION <br />SECTION 2.04.10 <br />VEGETATION INFORMATION <br />At the request of Mr. Murari Shrestha, Director of Engineering and Contracts for Western Fuels <br />Association (WFC), and permitting agent for the proposed New Horizon North (NHN) Mine <br />project, baseline vegetation sampling was conducted during the fall of 2008 and summer of 2009 <br />on an area of approximately 322.18 acres consisting of the proposed mine disturbance vegetation <br />types and corresponding reference areas. The proposed NHN Mine project area is located <br />approximately one mile north of the existing NH2 Mine area, and about three miles to the <br />northwest of the town of Nucla, Montrose County, Colorado. All of the lands within the <br />proposed mine area are located in the west half of Section 25, Township 47 North, Range 16 <br />West. The proposed NHN Mine area is located to the north of Montrose County Road AA, to <br />the east of Montrose County Road 26.00, to west of Montrose County Road 26.50 and to the <br />south of Montrose County Road Z. In addition to the proposed mine area, we also sampled two <br />existing vegetation reference areas. This revegetation monitoring effort was prepared with the <br />intention of satisfying the permit baseline vegetation sampling requirements of the DRMS <br />regulations. <br />Mr. Kent Crofts of IME, has conducted numerous previous vegetation sampling efforts at <br />numerous other mine sites in Colorado and Utah in the past 36 years, directly supervised all field <br />investigations. Mr. Eli Peterson and Mr. John Fielding acted as field assistants and assisted with <br />the field sampling and data analysis. <br />PLANT COMMUNITY MAPPING <br />METHODS , <br />Vegetation Manning, The boundaries of the vegetation types in the proposed NHN Mine <br />permit area were delineated as required in Section 2.04.10(1) which requires that plant <br />communities be delineated based upon the basis of visually dominant plant species. Six major <br />plant community types were delineated within the proposed NHN Mine permit area. This map <br />was prepared by walking all of the vegetation boundaries within the proposed permit area with <br />our GPS unit. <br />Maps, in both electronic and hard paper format, of all of the proposed mine and reference areas <br />to be sampled in this vegetation monitoring effort were supplied by Mr. David Anderson and Mr. <br />Ross Gubka of WFC. This vegetation mapping was prepared primarily using the high resolution <br />Section 2.04.10 Page 1 November 2011 <br />