Cottonwood Sand Mine

in progress

The Cottonwood Sand Mining Project proposes the conversion of the existing Cottonwood Golf Club golf courses to a ten-year sand mining operation with an additional two-year reclamation period. Approximately 214.4 acres of the approximately 280-acre site are proposed for extractive use and restoration which would occur in a total of four phases. The extraction process would occur in three phases over the span of ten years and the cleanup, equipment removal, and final reclamation would occur in the fourth phase over two years. Areas included within the Project boundary that are not disturbed by mining would be subject to habitat improvement through removal of invasive species in the river channel (if necessary) or would be left in their current condition including the existing Sweetwater River channel. The project would make certain improvements to Willow Glen Drive prior to beginning mining operations. The Project’s mining operations would extract, process, and transport aggregate consisting primarily of sand suitable for Portland cement concrete. Approximately 4.3 million cubic yards (cy) (6.40 million tons) of material are proposed to be extracted, with approximately 3.8 million cy (5.7 million tons) produced for market use. Those materials undesirable for processing (approximately 427,000 cy) would be retained on site and utilized for backfilling. In addition, approximately 2.5 million cy would be imported to the site to meet the sites overall backfill requirements. Sand excavation and processing would occur Monday through Friday, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Trucking operations for material sales and backfill import would occur Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.. There would be no processing of materials or trucking from the site on Saturdays, Sundays, and major holidays. Reclamation of the site would include the removal of all artificial structures, grading to achieve final landforms, incorporation of accumulated wash fines, salvaged topsoil, and imported backfill materials, as well as revegetation and monitoring.

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