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soon to access the lower portion (900 and 1200 levels) of the <br /> orebody with two parallel declines with portals located in the <br /> Storke area. Construction of the declines requires the re- <br /> location of the Arkansas River into a culvert. Authorization <br /> is through an Army Corps of Engineers 404 permit, for which <br /> application has been filed, and a Technical Revision to the <br /> Climax Regular Mining Permit approved by the Colorado Mined <br /> Land Reclamation Board. Eventually, No. 8 shaft will be con- <br /> structed from the Stork Yard to provide additional equipment <br /> access to the lower levels. Facility improvement activities <br /> are ongoing . Future planning may call for new facilities such <br /> as coal-power generation, extension of the Stork Yard, a <br /> gallery to house pipelines from the Storke to the main camp, a <br /> new access road to the Storke area, and a new mine water <br /> settling pond . <br /> Presently the underground ore is mined from two <br /> levels, Storke and 600, utilizing a panel caving mining system. <br /> The ore is developed by driving a series of parallel rail haul- <br /> age drifts under the orebody. At the haulage drift back elev- <br /> ation a series of slusher drifts are driven perpendicular to <br /> the haulage drifts . On both sides of these slusher drifts , <br /> finger raises inclined at 45 degrees are driven to the stope <br /> elevation. A series of subdrifts are driven parallel to the <br /> slusher drifts, but over the tops of the finger raises. From <br /> the subdrifts a series of fan shaped drill patterns are drilled <br /> up into the solid ore . These holes are loaded with a blasting <br /> agent and detonated. The resulting broken rock is gravity <br /> drawn into the finger raises from where it is dragged to, and <br /> through, a drawhole in the slusher drift over the haulage drift <br /> into waiting muck cars . Electric locomotives pull the loaded <br /> muck cars to the Storke surface crushing plant or to the 600 <br /> Level underground crushing plant . <br /> When the blasted ore has been removed , the overlying <br /> ore caves by its own weight, and the process continues until <br /> the overlying 300 foot ore column is exhausted . The technique <br /> results in subsidence and has produced the Climax Glory Hole. <br /> 2-7 <br />