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STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 C O L O RA D O <br /> <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 <br />INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM D I V I S I O N O F <br />RECLAMATION <br />FAX: (303) 832-8106 MINING <br /> <br /> SAFETY <br />TO: File 13111 Ritter, Jr. <br /> Governor <br />FROM: Mike Boulay 147 Sherman <br /> Executive D <br />irector <br /> Ronald W. Cattany <br />DATE: April 23, 2009 Division Director <br /> Natural Resource Trustee <br />SUBJECT: McClane Canyon Mine, Permit No. C-1980-004 <br /> Technical Revision No. 16 <br /> Cultural and Historic Resources <br />The purpose of this memo is to document recent events at McClane Canyon Mine regarding an <br />archeological site (Site 5GF741). As described below, I was informed by the operator on April 20, <br />2009 during an inspection of the mine that McClane Canyon Mining LLC (MCM) was re- <br />evaluating this site and had initiated some trench work. The location is documented in the permit <br />application package (PAP) and is described in Appendix J of the PAP in the 1980 Cultural <br />Resources Sampling Inventory prepared by Grand River Institute for Sheridan Enterprises, Inc. <br />Sheridan Enterprises was the initial operator permitted under Colorado's permanent program for the <br />McClane Canyon Mine. As described in the PAP, this is a prehistoric habitation site located in a <br />south-facing overhang near the mouth of McClane Canyon, and is considered potentially eligible for <br />listing in the National Register of Historic Places and is considered likely to yield significant <br />information. The site is also described in Section 4.1.3 of the PAP on page 4-10, but at the time this <br />section was written, the archeological site was considered to be outside of the areas proposed for <br />disturbance and it was determined that the site would be unaffected by the mine plan. This <br />archeological site has also been included in previous DRMS Findings (see RN-06 Proposed <br />Decision and Findings, Section A- Findings Required by Rule 2.07.6(2) Item 5.) <br />The operator included a commitment in the PAP that if previously unidentified cultural resources <br />are discovered, the operator shall insure that the site is not disturbed and shall notify the DMG. The <br />operator shall insure that the resource is properly evaluated for eligibility to be listed as specified in <br />36 CFR 60.6. If the resource is determined to be eligible after consultation with DMG and SHPO, <br />appropriate mitigation measures will be developed and implemented with DMG and SHPO <br />approval. If previously unplanned surface disturbances are necessary, the operator will obtain prior <br />approval from DMG prior to initiating the disturbance. <br />With recently approved Technical Revision No. 16 (TR-16) for the new Coal Mine Waste <br />Disposal Site and associated facilities, Site 5GF741 is now located immediately within the <br />disturbance boundary portion of the permit area on Bureau of Land Management land. During <br />the completeness review for TR-16, we inadvertently failed to notify SHPO of the revision that <br />would result in the archeological site of interest being within the disturbed area. We did notify <br />Office of Office of <br />Mined Land Reclamation Denver • Grand Junction • Durango Active and Inactive Mines