Reclamation bond

The1rod

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So I wanted to start a discussion about reclamation bonds, their factors and costs. So I'm gonna lay out a scenario and any feedback about other factors that may affect the bond amount, and any estimation of what it could cost would be very helpful.
So here's the scenario
A person wants to start a small/ mid scale placer operation, the claim is mostly flat with a creek running through one side. The mining plan is to strip the top soil and vegetation and run everything else down too bedrock at 12' . They will be using a small excavator to dig, and feed a trommel. Water will be pumped straight from the creek, the used water will flow into a settling pond and settle through the dirt back into the ground water. Tailings will be used to back fill as more ground is opened. Let's say at Max 20,000 yard of material will be moved in a year, equating to around an acre of surface area. And the vegetative coverage is mostly grasses and sage with a few small trees and no pocket gophers or anything else crazy and protected.
So what else is considered in a reclamation bond, and does anyone have an estimate?
 

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winners58

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is it in Colorado? you would have to get with a mining association or someone that can help you stay in the low bonding bracket.
look at the limited Impact Operations form and look under Warranty for bond info. maybe there is a bond pool with other miners.
http://mining.state.co.us/Forms/Pages/Minerals.aspx I've heard the lower end is in the $2500 to $5000 range.

you can search what others pay, but depends on how the plan is written.
(maybe search by county & commodities) http://mining.state.co.us/Reports/MiningData/Pages/MiningData.aspx
 

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The1rod

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is it in Colorado? you would have to get with a mining association or someone that can help you stay in the low bonding bracket.
look at the limited Impact Operations form and look under Warranty for bond info. maybe there is a bond pool with other miners.
http://mining.state.co.us/Forms/Pages/Minerals.aspx I've heard the lower end is in the $2500 to $5000 range.

you can search what others pay, but depends on how the plan is written.
(maybe search by county & commodities) http://mining.state.co.us/Reports/MiningData/Pages/MiningData.aspx

Thanks for the link, I'll be sure to read through that carefully. yes I am mainly focused on Colorado. And Just to clarify for everyone, this is a made up scenario, I do not yet have a location, this is just what I thought would be kind of a best case scenario for an operation I would like to one day have. I am still trying to find an area to claim and am trying to learn more about bonding through this discussion to help me better evaluate areas that I prospect.
 

Goldwasher

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its gonna be different based on where you end up digging. "surface disturbance" isn't set in stone.

It can change from area to area.
 

mtau

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I was told by a DEQ rep, last summer, that their minimum reclamation bond is $10,000, and that is for a SMES (under 5 acre disturbance). On top of that, you would have BLM, Forest Service,etc. If you get to the point of filing an operating plan, my advice is to contact your local School Of Mines, and see if one of their engineers will help you. Could save you years of fighting.
 

Clay Diggins

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If it's on BLM managed land an agent will meet you on the site after reviewing your NOI. That agent carries a dedicated bonding calculator and if he determines a bond is required he can give you the bond amount on the spot. If you are prepared to secure the bond you can begin work within a day or two. The whole process takes about 20 days.

On Forest Service managed land if you submit an NOI and no POO is required there will be no bond. Also about 20 days.

For both agencies a POO can be much more expensive and take a very long time for negotiation depending on the resistance level and how silly your plan is.

States have their own requirements that vary. County and sometimes municipal governments may have their hand out too depending on your location.

If you limit your surface disturbance in size by working in stages and reclaiming as you go the bonding requirements will be much lower.

Your proposed scenario sounds like you don't have any real mining experience so expect a very large bond and years of negotiation and hoops to jump through. If you aren't broke and disgusted by the time you get approval you will have learned the hard way the best way to approach a small operation. Learn the industry "best mining practices" and you will be way ahead of the game and mining soon.

In the desert southwest BLM NOI bonding runs between $800 and about $3,200 for an exploratory program. A real world example is an NOI to sample 400 foot square areas one at a time, reclaiming as you go, water truck, dump truck, power sluice, 2,500 gallon portable water tank, backhoe on 12 claims for 5 years is about $1,600. You get your bond back when you can show you have completed your work.

You haven't provided nearly enough information about your plans to even get past the NOI stage. The agencies could care less how deep your hole is, or how big the deposit is. They are concerned with minimizing the disturbance of the surface resources they manage. That involves stuff like how long, what time of year, what access method, size of equipment, size of surface disturbance, frequency and method of reclamation, fuel handling, size of pad, type of pond lining, human waste disposal, buildings or equipment storage, brush and tree removal etc.

Heavy Pans
 

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mtau

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As always Clay, you're 100% right. I should have been more clear. The DEQ bond is based on a POO. Reclamation bond on a NOI, or exploration lease is a lot less.
 

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The1rod

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Lots of good information clay and mtau. This is exactly what I was looking for thank you. Clay your last paragraph brought up alot of other factors I hadn't considered. Also clay you are right, I do not have any mining experience at this level nor do I have any experience planning an operation, and just like you mentioned, and many others have said before jumping in not knowing what your doing and having no experience, can quickly lead to the long, hard, expensive way of doing things, and that is exactly what I am trying to avoid. I have a long ways to go and alot to learn before I get to the point of needing a reclamation bond or even a NOI, but I'm just trying to learn as much as I can ahead of time, so I really appreciate all the help and information.
 

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ghostminer

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Let me tell you what our company did on Forest Service land in Plumas County, Ca. We submitted 4 POO'S. The minerals agent with the FS will come out & look at your marked ground (we used small flags. You must keep each POO to one acre & 1000 cubic yards of disturbance. We were also fortunate to have the opportunity to get a 5th POO for 3000 cubic yards because of a county project on our mine. They will send out all the various environmental agents as well as the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The entire process for us took about 6 months>it all depends on the schedules of the various agencies. There is no cost to the miner. There are a number of companies that will do the permitting for you for a fee. For one POO we were quoted anywhere from $7500 - $10,000. You can do it yourself for nothing if you have the time to meet with the environmentalists when they go to your site. We have never mined on any large scale before & they never asked. We got a reclamation bond for $3000. As you finish reclamation on one POO they will come to your site & check it, sign off, & transfer the bond to the next site. When you complete your projects the bond gets refunded back to you. We are doing it that way because we can't afford a large scale Mining Plan Of Operation which is much more detailed & expensive. You can get into big money with those depending on the project & area but figure to hire a professional to help you permit & pay for the studies & you can easily be at $50,000 or more for a small scale operation. If you want more detail of the process PM me & I will be glad to share.
 

winners58

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Let me tell you what our company did on Forest Service land in Plumas County, Ca. We submitted 4 POO'S. The minerals agent with the FS will come out & look at your marked ground (we used small flags. You must keep each POO to one acre & 1000 cubic yards of disturbance. We were also fortunate to have the opportunity to get a 5th POO for 3000 cubic yards because of a county project on our mine. They will send out all the various environmental agents as well as the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The entire process for us took about 6 months>it all depends on the schedules of the various agencies. There is no cost to the miner. There are a number of companies that will do the permitting for you for a fee. For one POO we were quoted anywhere from $7500 - $10,000. You can do it yourself for nothing if you have the time to meet with the environmentalists when they go to your site. We have never mined on any large scale before & they never asked. We got a reclamation bond for $3000. As you finish reclamation on one POO they will come to your site & check it, sign off, & transfer the bond to the next site. When you complete your projects the bond gets refunded back to you. We are doing it that way because we can't afford a large scale Mining Plan Of Operation which is much more detailed & expensive. You can get into big money with those depending on the project & area but figure to hire a professional to help you permit & pay for the studies & you can easily be at $50,000 or more for a small scale operation. If you want more detail of the process PM me & I will be glad to share.

if you go over 1 acre & 1000cy would you fall under California's SMARA and make things more difficult for your operation.
http://www.conservation.ca.gov/smgb/Regulations/Documents/mou 92.pdf
 

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ghostminer

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Yes. We are hoping to run multiple POO"S to avoid that. So far the FS has been willing to work with us. This helps prove the ground & hopefully we can make some money. Some video from our first POO.

 

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Goldwasher

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So two days with that trommel and your POO is done?
 

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ghostminer

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Trench, fill. Trench, fill. Also, that's why we are stacking them to run consecutively. Sadly, our partner on that project has passed away. That's why I'm looking for a trommel.
 

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Assembler

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Any ball park cost figures yet?
Thanks
 

Assembler

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Don't know how the double post happened.
 

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ghostminer

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Also, to define the purpose of the POO'S more clearly : They are a way to test your ground on a larger scale before you go into a full scale permitting situation. If on good ground you can also bankroll some money towards the next step. In our situation once the POO'S are all run we will hire a professional company to help us achieve our goals of full scale mining. They have looked at our operation & we have passed any fatal flaws that could put a halt to scaling up. We were told to expect a year or more to get a large plan in place & they estimated a cost of $30,000. Each step you go through successfully from POO'S all the way to full scale mining permits also make the property more valuable. A step by step process requiring patience.
 

Goldwasher

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did they bury him with the trommel?

I was just pointing out that at the yardage stated you would be done with one of the poo's in two days.

The way he was talking in the video it was getting ready to be a full time thing. Did you have different poo's for that set up?

Seems pretty big for exploration
 

Goldwasher

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Actually guy says 50 yrds an hour .. running up to 18 hours a day. so one day and POO is tapped out

900 yards ran five ounces found one day. like less than a quarter gram per yard.


so all poos could be done in a week.

That trommel would make it worth it... something smaller though:dontknow:


Hope you get it scaled up to where you want it.... It will be interesting to see where you end up.
 

Clay Diggins

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Also, to define the purpose of the POO'S more clearly : They are a way to test your ground on a larger scale before you go into a full scale permitting situation. If on good ground you can also bankroll some money towards the next step. In our situation once the POO'S are all run we will hire a professional company to help us achieve our goals of full scale mining. They have looked at our operation & we have passed any fatal flaws that could put a halt to scaling up. We were told to expect a year or more to get a large plan in place & they estimated a cost of $30,000. Each step you go through successfully from POO'S all the way to full scale mining permits also make the property more valuable. A step by step process requiring patience.

Neither the Forest Service nor the BLM "permit" mining. They are exclusively surface management agencies when it comes to mining claims. Mining your claim is one of the rights you gained when you claimed the minerals.

There is no such thing as a Forest Service (or BLM) mining permit. You either have a mining claim with a right to extract the valuable minerals, a lease with a lease payment for of one of the leasable minerals (phosphate, potash, sodium, sulfur, coal etc.) or a purchase of a specific amount of non locatable minerals (sand, gravel etc).

A POO is the final step needed to mine on a mining claim on public lands. Neither the BLM nor the Forest Service have the right to require a "permit" for mining. Once your POO is in place and bonded you can do whatever you proposed to do when you submitted your Plan of Operation.

The only "expense" for a POO is providing a refundable reclamation bond. You get that money back when you finish your reclamation. There may be air or water permits required by the State or County if you will be producing dust or using water but there is no federal permitting process for locatable minerals. You might pay someone to help you in the creation of your POO but that is a cost for advice and assistance not a "permit" to mine your claim and not a required fee for a POO.

Heavy Pans
 

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