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

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Mr. G. Russell Means October 1, 2012 Page 2 lease for lease tract C- JD -7A, which is subject to the District Court's October 18, 2011 injunction, as amended. Cotter is therefore relieved of any obligation to conduct exploration, drilling and mining on lands covered by such lease. Under these circumstances, no additional active mining activities have occurred at the JD -7 Pit during the period covered by your request. In numbered paragraph 2) of your January 24, 2012 letter, you do not request that Cotter provide additional information, since the Division has previously granted intermittent status for the JD -7 Pit. No additional information responsive to numbered paragraph 2) is therefore set forth in this letter. In numbered paragraph 3) of your January 24, 2012 letter, you request that Cotter provide to the Division: (a) "A detailed and specific narrative description of the condition of the operation at the time it entered [intermittent status], supplemented with maps; along with a detailed and specific narrative description of the current condition of the operation, supplemented with maps." (b) "If your Mine is a Designated Mining Operation ( "DMO "): any and all documentation necessary to comply with the EPP requirements associated with that legal designation...." (c) "A detailed and specific narrative description of your plans for resumption of mining." With respect to the requests set forth in subparagraph a), the condition of the "operation" when it entered intermittent status is set forth in Cotter's letter, dated February 13, 1991, to the Division. In that letter, Cotter requested that the Division re- classify the JD -7 Pit as an intermittent operation, and provided information to support such request. By letter dated April 1, 1991, the Division informed Cotter that the Board had approved Cotter's technical revision application. The current condition of the "operation" is set forth in Cotter's application amendment, dated September 2012, for the JD -7 Pit. A map of the JD -7 Pit showing the status of the mine workings as of the time it was put into intermittent status is attached to this letter as Figure 1. A map of the JD -7 Pit showing the current status of the mine workings is attached to this letter as Figure 2. Cotter considers Figures 1 and 2 to contain "confidential commercial, financial, geological, or geophysical data" and other information protected under C.R.S. §§ 24-72 - 204(3)(a)(iv) and 24- 72- 204(3)(a)(xxi). Accordingly, Cotter respectfully requests that the Division not produce Figures 1 and 2 in response to any request for disclosure made under the Colorado Open Records Act, C.R.S. §§ 24 -72 -200.1 to -206. With respect to subparagraph b), the JD -7 Pit is a DMO. The documentation necessary to comply with the Environmental Protection Plan ( "EPP ") requirements for the JD -7 Pit is contained in Exhibit U to Cotter's application amendment, dated September 2012, for such mine