2013-06-05_PERMIT FILE - M2012052 (4)

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EXHIBIT B- SITE DESCRIPTION The affected land is situated at an elevation ranging from a low of about 9,800 feet to a high of 10,300 feet and is located on a open southwesterly- facing slope. The majority of the affected area is open grass with few stands of trees. The average precipitation is about 15 to 20 inches annually with the last two years being drier than average. The general area is located within a mining district with the initial patented use being mining, as evidenced by the method of private title. The access to the Sangre de Christo Tunnel was originally one of the early roads that provided access from the north edge of the town of Cripple Creek eastward toward Grassy Valley. The site is accessed from the eastern end of Galena Avenue, where the gravel access road leads to the property a distance of approximately three quarters of a mile. A security gate is located along that road a distance of 0.2 miles from the permit area. The roadbed is of sufficient width for vehicle travel and will not require any significant improvements other than modification to meet the safety requirements imposed by the Federal Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Approximately 3 acres, has been previously disturbed by historic mining activities. The disturbed areas include the access road within the permit area, the leveled area surrounding the portal of the Sangre de Christo Tunnel, and the area that the old waste rock pile had occupied between the level area and Highway 67; to the southwest had never been revegetated. At this time it is not intended to disturb any significant area outside the original historic footprint. Within that footprint, the majority of the area has been denuded of soil or the native soil has been covered with old mine waste rock. The occurrence of native soils is limited to areas away from historic disturbances and exists as a thin veneer over the hilltops and hillsides, with an increased thickness present in the valley bottoms due to lower slope angles and more plentiful subsurface pore water. The soils present are moderately deep, coarse, well drained, loamy - skeletal soils resembling mixed Argic Cryoborolls. The surface layer is a grayish brown gravely loam to gravely sandy loam of variable thickness that was observed to range from six to twelve inches. The subsoil is a gravely sandy loam or gravely sandy clay loam of variable thickness. The site is semi -open and the vegetation present on undisturbed areas consists of grasses, forbes, some shrubs and trees. The historic disturbed areas of the mine site are typically barren of vegetation except areas peripheral to the mine dump where vegetation has somewhat invaded the historic disturbance. On adjacent, relatively undisturbed slopes away from the mine, the vegetation again consists primarily of grasses, forbes, shrubs and trees. The vegetation community around the relatively undisturbed portions of the site includes the following: grasses and grass -like plants: oatgrass, various