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after stockpile construction and clearly identified with appropriate signs. A berm will be placed around <br />the toe of the stockpile to contain sediment produced from the stockpile. <br />Upon reclamation, the surface elevation in the mined area will be lowered from 20 to 30 feet due to <br />removal of the limestone (except when the limestone layer thickness is minimal, caused by ancient <br />weathering and erosion), assuming approximately a 15 to 20% swell factor for the replaced shale and <br />unconsolidated material. The physical extent of the lowering in surface elevation is controlled by the <br />thickness of the unconsolidated material, shale, and limestone removed, and the actual swell of the <br />excavated and replaced materials. The proposed reclamation sequence and status of each stage of <br />reclamation at the end of the first eight -years of mining activities is illustrated on Figure D -2. Further <br />information pertaining to the final reclamation surface is provided in Exhibit F -1. Exhibit E discusses the <br />reclamation plan. <br />Highwalls at the northern edge and the sides of the pit access road, and along the western side of the <br />Panel will be excavated with slopes not exceeding approximately 70 percent for rock and 30 percent or <br />less for unconsolidated material and shale. Final highwalls will be sloped 4h: 1v and stabilized to control <br />erosion with the use of a geotextile material containing the prescribed seed mix (or equivalent <br />methodology). <br />Dust control measures will follow the dust control plan approved for this operation. Dust suppression at <br />the crusher will be achieved by water spray during dumping, in a mostly enclosed dump hopper, and at <br />conveyor belt transfers to maintain dust within regulated levels. Water for dust suppression on roadways <br />and in the removal of overburden will be applied by water truck, as required. <br />Upon review of all potential impacts to people, structures, water wells, animals and the surrounding <br />natural environment, GCC has found no conditions that would prevent safe operation of the proposed <br />mining and blasting operation at the site. Known domestic and livestock wells are deep, located <br />approximately 450 feet below the Fort Hays Limestone unit in the Dakota Sandstone unit, with steel <br />casing used through the unit to be mined. With the use of time delays and proper stemming of the blast <br />holes, any dust, noise, and ground vibrations will not have long -term effects on the environment. It should <br />be noted that there exists only one dwelling within one mile of proposed blasting and excavating. <br />The geologic unit being mined is the Fort Hays Limestone, which occurs at a very shallow depth in the <br />area to be permitted. Extensive core drilling activities have encountered no significant amounts of water <br />within the surface rock to a depth of 100 feet. <br />CEMENT MANUFACTURING <br />The cement manufacturing facility is permitted for a maximum production capacity of approximately 1.4 <br />million tons per year of portland cement products and incorporates state of the art processing technology. <br />The primary raw material used in the manufacture of portland cement is limestone, which will be quarried <br />on property owned by GCC and leased from the State of Colorado. <br />Quarried limestone is processed through a crusher that reduces this material down to a five -inch size and <br />smaller. After crushing, the limestone is combined with other raw materials such as iron and alumina (an <br />aluminum bearing mineral) and processed through a milling operation. The milling operation grinds the <br />raw materials into a fine powder in preparation for processing these materials through the preheater and <br />kiln system. <br />After milling, the raw materials are processed through a five -stage preheater and calcining vessel. A <br />preheater is designed to heat the raw materials using waste heat from hot combustion gases vented from <br />Technical Rev No. 4 <br />April 26, 2013 <br />D -7 <br />