Extension approved for new Technical Revision on rock bolting

Mining has stopped at the Rocky Mountain Industrials (RMI) quarry, but the company continues to work with the state government on updates to its reclamation bond, according to Robert Wagner, vice president of engineering for RMI.

In a Jan. 13 letter to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS), Wagner reported that RMI planned to submit its surety bond that day to cover an interim increase in its reclamation bond.

The interim bond, adjusted only for inflation, is now $489,758, a 33 percent increase over its previous bond of $366,179.

In August 2024, DRMS proposed a bond increase to $3.2 million to cover rock bolting work needed to stabilize the overhanging cliff that remains in place after the January 2023 rockslide.

RMI resisted the proposal, as the company’s preferred plan would mine out the cliff and hundreds of feet of the slope above it.

By late November, DRMS agreed to split its process for increasing the company’s reclamation bond into two parts.

It imposed the inflationary bond increase, due Jan. 14, 2025, to cover standard reclamation work, such as demolishing structures, reshaping the mined benches, ripping out access roads, spreading stockpiled topsoil, and revegetating the site.

Meanwhile, the rock bolting requirement will undergo a Technical Revision process for the company’s state mining permit.

RMI’s first submittal for that Technical Revision was due Jan. 15. However, Wagner requested a two-week extension in his Jan. 13 letter to the agency, which was approved by Amy Yeldell, DRMS Environmental Protection Specialist.

The new deadline for RMI’s Technical Revision submittal is Jan. 29.

Two cranes were being used to dismantle structures at the Rocky Mountain Industrials limestone quarry.

Photo above taken Jan. 15, 2025. Photo below taken the next day, Jan. 16, 2025.

Photos by Ginny Minch and Jeff Peterson