2012-10-01_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - M1979094HR (3)

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Cotter October 1, 2012 Via Hand Delivery Mr. G. Russell Means Acting Senior Environmental Protection Specialist Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety Grand Junction Field Office 101 S. Third St., Room 301 Grand Junction, CO 81501 Re: Status of the JD -7 Pit, Permit No. M- 1979 -094HR Dear Mr. Means: This letter responds to your letters dated January 24, 2012 and September 5, 2012, regarding the status of the JD -7 Pit in Montrose County, Colorado, Permit No. M- 1979- 094HR. The JD -7 Pit is currently in intermittent status. In your January 24, 2012 letter, you explain that the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety ( "Division ") is reviewing its files for all intermittent hard rock mining operations to ensure that they are in compliance with the Mined Land Reclamation Act ( "Act "), C.R.S. §§ 34 -32 -101 to -127, and the Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board ( "Board ") for Hard Rock, Metal and Designated Mining Operations, 2 C.C.R. § 407 -1 ( "Rules "). Further, you request that Cotter Corporation (N.S.L.) ( "Cotter ") provide certain information to the Division for the JD -7 Pit by October 1, 2012. Your September 5, 2012 letter is a follow -up to your January 24, 2012 letter, and does not request that Cotter provide additional information beyond what is requested in the January 24, 2012 letter. This letter provides the information that you have requested. It also shows that Cotter is in full compliance with the Act and the Rules. In numbered paragraph 1) of your January 24, 2012 letter, you request that Cotter provide a detailed and specific narrative description of the "active mining activities" that have occurred at the "site" during the past year. In 2011, Cotter built a drill road in the JD -7 Pit, and rehabilitated the storm water pit dam and the upper diversion ditch. Additional mining activity has been limited by the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. On October 18, 2011, the District Court enjoined the United States Department of Energy ( "DOE ") from approving any activities on lands governed by the Uranium Lease Management Program ( "ULMP "), including "exploration, drilling, mining, and reclamation activities." See Colorado Environmental Coalition v. Office of Legacy Management, 819 F. Supp. 2d 1193, 1224 -225 (D. Colo. 2011). Although the District Court subsequently amended its injunction to exclude from the injunction's scope certain maintenance and reclamation activities and other work, it did not exclude from the injunction and, accordingly, still does not authorize "exploration, drilling, [and] mining" on ULMP lands. See Colorado Environmental Coalition v. Office of Legacy Management, 2012 WL 628547 (D. Colo. Feb. 27, 2012). Cotter holds a DOE - issued mining Cotter Corporation - West Slope Operations Telephone (970) 864 -7347 P.O. Box 700, 28151 DD Road, Nucla, CO 81424 USA Fax (970) 864 -7287