(1) Any
person desiring to conduct prospecting shall, prior to entry upon the lands, file with
the board a notice of intent to conduct prospecting operations on a form approved
by the board. Such notice shall be accompanied by a fee as specified in section 34-32-127 (2).
(2) The notice form shall contain the following:
(a) The name of the person or organization doing the prospecting;
(b) A statement that prospecting will be conducted pursuant to the terms
and conditions listed on the approved form;
(c) A brief description of the type of operations which will be undertaken;
(d) A description of the lands to be prospected by township and range;
(e) An approximate date of commencement of operations; and
(f) Measures to be taken to reclaim any affected land consistent with the
requirements of section 34-32-116.
(3) All information provided to the board in a notice of intent to conduct
prospecting or a modification of such a notice is a matter of public record subject to
the Colorado Open Records Act, part 2 of article 72 of title 24, C.R.S., including, in
the case of a modification, the original notice of intent; except that information
relating to the mineral deposit location, size, or nature and, as determined by the
board, other information designated by the operator as proprietary or trade secrets
or that would cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the operator
shall be protected as confidential information by the board and shall not be a
matter of public record in the absence of a written release from the operator or
until a finding by the board that reclamation is satisfactory. Such information
designated as exempt shall remain confidential until a final determination by the
board. The board shall promulgate rules implementing this subsection (3) and shall
consider information including the timing of the disclosure of the operator's
identity.
(4) (a) Upon filing the notice of intent to conduct prospecting, the person
shall provide financial warranty in the amount of two thousand dollars per acre of
the land to be disturbed or such other amount as determined by the board.
(b) A person may submit statewide warranties for prospecting if such
warranties are in an amount fixed by the board by rule and such person otherwise
complies with the provisions of this section for every area to be prospected.
(5) Upon completion of the prospecting, there shall be filed with the board a
notice of completion of prospecting operations. Within ninety days after the filing
of the notice of completion, the board shall notify the person who had conducted
the prospecting operations of the steps necessary to reclaim the land.
(5.5) (a) Without regard to the one thousand six hundred square foot
limitation of section 34-32-103 (12), all drill holes sunk for the purpose of
prospecting for locatable or leasable minerals on any land within the state of
Colorado shall be plugged, sealed, or capped pursuant to this subsection (5.5) by
the person conducting the prospecting. This subsection (5.5) shall not apply to
holes drilled in conjunction with a mining operation for which the board has issued a
permit nor to wells or holes regulated pursuant to section 34-33-117 and to article
60 of this title or article 80, 90, 91, or 92 of title 37, C.R.S.
(b) Drill holes sunk for the purpose of prospecting shall be abandoned in the
following manner:
(I) Any artesian flow of groundwater to the surface shall be eliminated by a
plug made of cement or similar material or by a procedure sufficient to prevent
such artesian flow.
(II) Drill holes which have encountered any aquifer in volcanic or sedimentary
rock, as aquifer is defined in section 37-90-103 (2), C.R.S., shall be sealed utilizing a
sealing procedure which is adequate to prevent fluid communication between
aquifers.
(III) Each drill hole shall be securely capped at a minimum depth compatible
with local cultivation practices or at a minimum of two feet below either the original
land surface or the collar of the hole, whichever is the lower elevation. The cap is to
be made of concrete or other material which is satisfactory for such capping. The
site shall be backfilled above the cap to the original land surface.
(IV) If any drill hole is to be ultimately used as or converted to a water well,
the user shall comply with the applicable provisions of title 37, C.R.S.
(V) Each drill site shall be reclaimed pursuant to section 34-32-116,
including, if necessary, reseeding if grass or any other crop was destroyed.
(c) Abandonment in the manner provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection
(5.5) shall occur immediately following the drilling of the hole and the probing for
minerals in the prospecting process. However, a drill hole may be maintained as
temporarily abandoned without being plugged, sealed, or capped. However, no drill
hole which is to be temporarily abandoned without being plugged, sealed, or
capped shall be left in such a condition as to allow fluid communication between
aquifers. Such temporarily abandoned drill holes shall be securely covered in a
manner which will prevent injury to persons and animals.
(d) No later than sixty days after the completion of the abandonment
pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (5.5) of any drill hole that has artesian
flow at the surface, the person conducting the prospecting shall submit to the head
of the office a report containing the location of such hole to within two hundred feet
of its actual location, the estimated rate of flow of such artesian flow, if such is
known, and the facts of the technique used to plug such hole.
(e) No later than twelve months after the completion of the abandonment of
any drill hole pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (5.5), there shall be filed
by the person conducting the prospecting with the head of the office a report
containing the location of the hole to the nearest forty-acre legal subdivision and
the facts of the technique used to plug, seal, or cap the hole.
(f) The head of the office may not waive any of the administrative provisions
of this subsection (5.5).
(6) The board shall inspect the lands prospected within thirty days after the
person prospecting the lands completes the reclamation and notifies the board that
the reclamation is finished. If the board finds the reclamation satisfactory, the
board shall release applicable performance and financial warranties.
(7) The financial warranty shall not be held for more than thirty days after
the completion of the reclamation.
(8) The board is authorized to inspect any ongoing prospecting operation or
any prospecting operation prior to the request for release of performance and
financial warranties, in order to determine compliance with the terms of this article.
(9) Upon the submittal of a notice of intent to conduct prospecting
operations or a modification of such a notice, the person submitting such notice or
modification shall give an electronic version of the notice or modification, except
for that information exempted from public disclosure under subsection (3) of this
section and that information designated by the person as exempt from disclosure
under subsection (3) of this section, to the board in a format determined by the
board. The division shall post such version of the notice or modification on its
website.