Administrative Rules of Montana
Department 17 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Chapter 17.24 - RECLAMATION
Subchapter 17.24.10 - Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act: Prospecting
Rule 17.24.1014 - TEST PITS: APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, REVIEW PROCEDURES, BONDING, AND ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
Universal Citation: MT Admin Rules 17.24.1014
Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
(1) In addition to all the other performance standards set forth in ARM 17.24.1005 through 17.24.1012, prospecting test pits must also comply with the following requirements:
(a) Test pits or other excavations must be
located out of stream channels (dry or flowing) unless otherwise approved by
the department.
(b) Applications,
permits, bonds, prospecting activities, and related procedures, and reclamation
relating to test pits or excavations that are to produce test shipments of
minerals, must comply with the applicable provisions of subchapters 3 and 5
through 9, and ARM
17.24.1101 through
17.24.1122,
17.24.1125,
17.24.1129, and
17.24.1131 through
17.24.1138.
(2) An application for a coal test pit prospecting permit must contain:
(a) a
demonstration that the test pit extraction method is necessary for development
of a mining operation for which an operating permit application is to be
submitted in the near future and that the minerals are being extracted for
testing purposes only;
(b) the name
of the testing firm and the locations at which the coal will be
tested;
(c) if the coal will be
sold directly to, or commercially used directly by, the intended end user, a
statement from the intended end user, or, if the coal is sold through a broker
or agent, a statement from the broker or agent, that contains:
(i) the specific reason for the test,
including why the mineral may be so different from the end user's other mineral
supplies as to require testing;
(ii) a statement of the amount of mineral
necessary for the test and why a lesser amount is not sufficient; and
(iii) a description of the specific tests
that will be conducted;
(d) evidence that sufficient reserves of
mineral are available to the person conducting the prospecting or its
principals for future commercial use or sale to the intended end user, or agent
or broker of such user identified above, to demonstrate that the amount of
mineral to be removed is not the total reserve, but is a sampling of a larger
reserve; and
(e) an explanation as
to why other means of prospecting, such as core drilling, are not adequate to
determine the quality of the mineral and the feasibility of developing a mining
operation.
(3) An application for a test pit must include a timetable for the sampling and reclamation activities.
(4) Subchapter 4 is applicable to test pit prospecting permit applications and permits with the following requirements:
(a)
The notice of application published by the applicant must contain, in addition
to the information required in ARM
17.24.401(3), the
date the application was filed.
(b)
The affirmative demonstration and written findings required for the application
by ARM 17.24.405(6) must
also include the items listed in (2) above.
AUTH: 82-4-205, MCA; IMP: 82-4-226, MCA
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