Gold Mine Life Cycle

1- Baseline Data and Permitting

Extensive environmental baseline data are collected prior to mining in order to evaluate potential impacts from mining. Mining, reclamation, and mitigation plans are reviewed and approved by the appropriate federal, state, and county regulatory agencies prior to initial mining activities.

2- Vegetation Removal
Based upon the approved plan, vegetation is removed from the area to be mined. At CC&V, a combination of logging, cutting, and stacking trees for firewood and transplanting smaller trees to reclaimed areas are used to conserve woody resources.

3- Topsoil Handling

Dozers, loaders, and trucks are used to collect salvageable topsoil for storage until it can be used for reclamation.

4- Mining
The mining process includes controlled blasting, hauling, crushing, leaching, processing, and beneficiation for the recovery of gold. CC&V operates around the clock and on every day of the year.

5- Backfilling, Contouring, and Re-grading
Overburden rock is placed either in engineered storage areas or used to backfill mined areas according to the approved reclamation plan and shaped to establish a stable post-mining slope.

6- Topsoil Replacement
After re-grading, salvaged topsoil is replaced, and fertilizers and other amendments are incorporated in order to prepare a suitable seedbed.

7- Revegetation
Newly resloped and topsoiled areas are seeded annually in the fall with a mix of grasses, forbs, and shrubs known to establish successfully in the Pikes Peak region. Following establishment of a permanent vegetative cover, seedlings from trees in the permitted area are transplanted by hand, one at a time.

8- Monitoring for Sustainability
To ensure that a stable and productive post-mining land use has been reestablished, CC&V monitors and evaluates reclaimed areas for several years following the reclamation process.