(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:
The name of the person or organization doing the prospecting;
A statement that prospecting will be conducted pursuant to the terms and conditionslisted on the approved form;
A brief description of the type of operations which will be undertaken;
A description of the lands to be prospected by township and range;
An approximate date of commencement of operations; and
Measures to be taken to reclaim any affected land consistent with the requirements ofsection 34-32-116.
All information provided to the board in a notice of intent to conduct prospecting or amodification 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.
(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.
Upon completion of the prospecting, there shall be filed with the board a notice ofcompletion 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:
Any artesian flow of groundwater to the surface shall be eliminated by a plug madeof cement or similar material or by a procedure sufficient to prevent such artesian flow.
Drill holes which have encountered any aquifer in volcanic or sedimentary rock, asaquifer 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.
Each drill hole shall be securely capped at a minimum depth compatible with localcultivation 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.
If any drill hole is to be ultimately used as or converted to a water well, the usershall comply with the applicable provisions of title 37, C.R.S.
Each drill site shall be reclaimed pursuant to section 34-32-116, including, if necessary, reseeding if grass or any other crop was destroyed.
Abandonment in the manner provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (5.5) shalloccur 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.
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.
No later than twelve months after the completion of the abandonment of any drillhole 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.
The head of the office may not waive any of the administrative provisions of thissubsection (5.5).
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.
The financial warranty shall not be held for more than thirty days after the completion of the reclamation.
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.
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.
Source: L. 76: Entire article R&RE, p. 736, § 1, effective July 1. L. 80: (5.5) and (8) added, p. 687, § 2, effective July 1. L. 81: (4), (6), (7), and (8) amended, p. 1670, § 7, effective
June 19. L. 83: (3) amended, p. 2051, § 23, effective October 14. L. 91: (1) amended, p. 1435, § 8, effective July 1. L. 92: (5.5)(d), (5.5)(e), and (5.5)(f) amended, p. 1941, § 39, effective July 1.
L. 93: (4) amended, p. 1181, § 7, effective July 1. L. 2008: (3), (5.5)(d), (5.5)(e), and (5.5)(f) amended and (9) added, p. 1705, § 1, effective June 2. L. 2009: (3) amended, (SB 09-292), ch. 369, p. 1979, § 111, effective August 5.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 34-32-111 as it existed prior to 1976.