WorldWide Drilling Resource

69 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® DECEMBER 2016 Wyo-Ben Wins Reclamation Award Adapted from a News Release by Wyo-Ben, Inc. Benton te producer Wyo-Ben, Inc. has won the 2016 Kenes C. Bow ng Nat ona M ne Rec amat on Award n the noncoa category for p t 138L n Wyom ng. Sponsored by the Interstate M n ng Compact Comm ss on (IMCC), the award s named after the ate charter execut ve d rector of IMCC, and recogn zes outstand ng ach evements n rec amat on and promote rec amat on on a nat ona eve . Each year there are two awards presented: one for coa and another for noncoa m nera s. As a common rec amat on pract ce, Wyo-Ben contours overburden to match the surround ng topography dur ng ts rec amat on process. Th s resu ted n var ed topog- raphy creat ng m croenv ronments wh ch a d n the estab shment of des red nat ve vegetat on, prov s on of hab tat for w d fe us ng the area, a more aesthet ca y appea ng andscape for recreat ona v s tors, and a ows for the format on of stab e, meander ng rec a med dra nages wh ch t e nto nat ve dra nages. When deep dra nages occurred n a m n ng area, even though t wou d be more econom ca to m ne through them nstead of stopp ng the m n ng process and start ng aga n on the other s de, Wyo-Ben chose to take the more expens ve route of avo d ng the dra nages for eco og ca purposes. Us ng the castback m n ng techn que, Wyo-Ben was ab e to reestab sh severa nat ve perenn a forbs and shrubs us ng res dent a so seed. The company rout ne y separates top- so from the subso of poorer qua ty re at ve to vegetat on estab shment. Subso , and when ava ab e other deeper growth med ums, are spread f rst on contoured overburden n pre- parat on for seed ng. The topso s then spread on top to prepare the best poss be env ronment for estab sh ng vegetat on. Th s pract ce, when comb ned w th other techn ques, ed to the suc- cessfu estab shment of vegetat on and re- su ted n exce ent vegetat on cover at the rec a med p t. Lands were seeded each fa , and occa- s ona y n the ear y spr ng, w th a most y nat ve seed m x conta n ng a var ety of grasses and shrubs. Seed ng was comp eted us ng a P tter- Broadcast seeder wh ch produces a ser es of one foot by one foot p ts nto wh ch seed s broadcast. Th s method resu ts n m croen- v ronments be ng created wh ch prov de many benef ts to seed germ nat on and vegetat on estab shment. Each p t s a sma water co ec- t on area prov dngmore water to the seed n the p t than f they were s tt ng on a f at seedbed. Th s s a great advantage n the ar d env ron- ment. The conf gurat on of the p t a so acted as a so trap, co ect ng w nd-b own so from the a r and depos t ng t on seeds, prov d ng cover. The water ho d ng capac ty of the p ts reduces so eros on from water runoff. Add t ona y, Wyo-Ben reduces ts d s- turbance footpr nt by us ng nformat on gathered wh e do ng exp orat on dr ng to determ ne whether the benton te n a part cu ar area meets ts qua ty standards before dec d ng to m ne t. Th s a ows the company to avo d unnecessary mn ng. These und sturbed areas prov de a source of nat ve seeds used to rec a m the surround ng areas and a so he ps stab ze rec a med ands. The resu t of these pract ces s rec a med and support ng the prem ned and uses of w d fe hab tat and vestock graz ng. The comb nat on of pract ces used by Wyo-Ben for rec amat on can be ut zed by other m n ng compan es n areas where c - mat c cond t ons create cha enges to suc- cessfu m ne rec amat on. Wyo-Ben's Greg Sweetser (R) accepting the award. +3$ (1 -.2 )312 /0("$ !32 2'$ .4$0 ++ 1$04("$ -# $6/$0($-"$ .%%$0$# !7 '0../ ."* (2 .,/ -7 - $&(12$0$# 0& -(8 2(.- .6 9 .-* 5 6 , (+ 1 +$1 2'0../0."*!(2 "., 555 2'0../0."*!(2 ".,