RFP Questions and answers w exhibits.pdf

1. Appraiser’s Certification notes that “The principal appraiser must inspect the appraised property.”

a. Will the principal appraiser need to inspect 2-3 quartz sites and 2-3 sand and gravel sites? Yes, likely 3 quartz sites will need inspected. My geologist contacts said that 2-3 will be sufficient.

Aggregate can only be 2 since this rock is uniform in the type of geology, but 3 is preferred.

b. Do you have an idea of where the most representative sites are located? If so, can you please provide information on the nearest towns for fee estimating purposes? Yes, these are in the Mt.

Ida and Glenwood areas, and the aggregate sites and operations are in the same area.

2. Does the principal appraiser need to inspect each comparable or can a colleague (another geologist who will be assisting the appraiser with the work, but will not be cosigning the report) complete the comparable sale site inspections? As long as the colleague is properly trained and has experience doing this kind of research and interviews, and you supervise the process, explain in report, it is acceptable.

a. If access arrangements cannot reasonably be made with the owner/operator on comparable sales, will the comparable sales still be allowed to be included? Yes, just explain your attempts, why you could not see the material, and what steps you took to verify quality & geology mix.

3. The Appraiser’s Certification requires a reference to a specific date and a specific “appraised property.”

How is the appraiser able to comply with this statement when no one specific property is appraised, rather a market value is assigned to a type of commodity to be extracted from a multitude of different federally owned properties? Would it be acceptable to modify the language to read “appraised mineral material” rather than “appraised property”, or something similar to this effect? Yes, we can change that wording, once awarded, and or at pre-work meet. This clarification does not require a contract mod.

4. There is typically a range in value of commodities based on a number of factors (quality, quantity, infrastructure, location to market, etc.). Are ranges acceptable to report as the appraisal does not value one specific piece of property? We need a single unit number “in place.” Best practice is take range of indications and narrow to a single unit value to subject’s perceived quality & average quantity (provided by inspecting best representative examples w/our geologist and we can give a 25-30 year history of our past production), identify typical infrastructure and recommend using average of best-worst locations.

5. Can competitively bid contracts and market data be used from other geographic areas outside of the immediate subject areas if private data is lacking in the vicinity of the subject? Of course, and I have ideas and leads if you want them in NM, and TX. I even have a really old sale from BHs of South Dakota.

6. What individual commodities/end use products within sand and gravel category will be required to be analyzed (fill, sand, washed sand, crusher fines, crushed aggregate, natural gravels, etc)? The aggregate is valued “in place” assuming permit holder incurs all costs, reclamation, permitting, rules/regs. The end product is primarily for driveways, roads, and fill. 2nd to that is as sub-bases for building sheds/homes.

7. If needed, can a letter be provided by USDA or USFS that states the data collected from operators can remain confidential and not subject to a FOIA request? Absolutely. I can advise how to properly label that kind of information and suggest you put in a separate data book from report, if your sources requests that it remain confidential and is identified as sensitive business information. I understand summary information in main body of the report is not confidential, but the individual data sheets and operation specific information that would be included as Appendix may need protected in some cases.

8. Please provide copy of one typical quartz lease and one quartz contract. See attached. These may not represent market. Reason for this appraisal and 1st phase highest & best use (HBU) step in contract.

9. What possible end uses do you foresee for the quartz material, is it limited to collector/prospector specimens? No, although that is the current primary end user, there is a history of others. And, see the written response from our most experienced geologist from that region on expected future – although he thinks it is still as specimen collecting end users (see bulleted paragraph on the following page).

• The vast majority of quartz crystal mined on the Ouachita NF is for collector/specimens. However, there are several different varieties of quartz which all fall under the 1988 law; (1) specimen quartz—this is the typical quartz crystals that most are after are the types of crystals that you see on display cases or in museums; (2) novaculite—this is a micro crystalline quartz that is used mostly for making whetstones or oil stones, however in speaking with some folks, there seems to be a couple of other uses for it too; (3) bull quartz—this is the white milky quartz that basically is best used for gravel, however, we have issued contracts for this specific material in the past for some type of lab/industrial uses. The company which mined this type of quartz would dissolve the materials, and recrystallize it in a lab. Other folks currently mine this material on their private mines, but they will not share who buys it or what use it is for; (4) tripoli—another microcrystalline quartz which is almost like a chalk in its weathered form, which is used in abrasives, as well as some other applications. As far as the other uses, companies do not like to disclose what use that they are interested in the quartz for, but I have heard from some of the miners that they are contacted by companies like Black and Decker because they are looking for a supply of quartz for something, but they do not tell what they are using it for. As for what do I foresee, well the main driver will always be for the specimen collector on the Ouachita, because of the world-class specimens which come out of the Ouachita Mountains. However, there will always be at least a small percentage of what is mined going for some type of industrial use, and as technology evolves, the quartz values may change dramatically if it is found that quartz has some type of unique value for a certain technology—we have a great example of this from the WW2 era, where it was discovered that quartz crystals were perfect to be used in radios for oscillators; when this happened, it was a game changer for those who were mining quartz in the Ouachita’s and it became a strategic mineral, and the USGS (or more probable its precursor or maybe even the army) did intensive investigations and exploration to find good deposits for quartz at the time, and in Hot Springs at the train station there was a depot set up to come and sell quartz for the war effort. If another use for quartz is found in some type of technology again, then all bets are off on what the foreseeable uses of quartz may be.

QUARTZ CONTRACT 01.09.2020

A. Proposed Mining Area

B. Tailings

C. Tailings

D. 20 ft Container

B, C & D

A

A. Proposed Mining Area

B. Tailings

C. Tailings

D. 20 ft Container

B, C & D

A

OQC-278

Appendix B-3

T3S-R24W

0 250 500125 Feet

Legend

OQC-278

Proposed Plan of Operations

Appendix B-4

OQC-278

Mine Area

Waste Rock Area

Existing Roads

Proposed Roads

!H

!H

!H

!H

!H

4T3S-R24W

0 100 20050 Feet

Legend

OQC-278

Mine Area

Waste Rock Area

Existing Roads

Proposed Roads

!H GPS Points

34°30'17.837"N

93°34'3.349"W

34°30'17.166"N

93°34'2.48"W

34°30'16.538"N

93°34'2.124"W

34°30'15.585"N

93°34'0.804"W

34°30'15.354"N

93°34'0.396"W

34°30'14.946"N

93°33'59.893"W

OQC-278

Proposed Plan of Operations

Appendix B-5

Proposed Access from Waste Rock to Mine Area

4T3S-R24W

0 100 20050 Feet

Legend

OQC-278

Mine Area

Waste Rock Area

Existing Roads

Proposed Roads

!H GPS Points

34°30'13.689"N

93°33'58.668"W 34°30'13.626"N

93°33'58.06"W

34°30'12.914"N, 93°33'55.284"W

34°30'12.348"N, 93°33'53.86"W

34°30'15.49"N

93°33'53.745"W

34°30'15.836"N

93°33'56.384"W

OQC-278

Proposed Plan of Operations

Appendix B-6

Proposed Mine Area

34°30'15.899"N

93°34'0.71"W

2.90 Acres

0 25 5012.5 Feet

Legend

OQC-278

Mine Area

Waste Rock Area

Existing Roads

Proposed Roads

!H GPS Points

34°30'17.347"N

93°34'4.929"W 34°30'17.332"N

93°34'2.467"W

34°30'16.795"N

93°34'2.326"W

34°30'17.848"N, 93°34'3.469"W

34°30'17.614"N

93°34'3.862"W

OQC-278

Proposed Plan of Operations

Appendix B-7

Proposed Waste Rock Area

34°30'17.037"N

93°34'5.25"W

0.57 Acres

34°30'16.305"N

93°34'2.153"W 34°30'16.384"N

93°34'3.264"W

34°30'16.547"N

93°34'3.92"W

34°30'16.529"N

93°34'4.666"W

34°30'16.691"N

93°34'4.792"W

!H !H

!H !H

!H

!H

0 25 5012.5 Feet

Legend

OQC-278

Mine Area

Waste Rock Area

Existing Roads

Proposed Roads

!H GPS Points

34°30'7.421"N

93°32'23.088"W

34°30'7.459"N

93°32'22.792"W 34°30'7.595"N

93°32'23.432"W

OQC-278

Proposed Plan of Operations

Appendix B-8

Proposed Access to Logan Gap Road

300 Ft.

34°30'7.193"N

93°32'22.519"W

34°30'7.607"N

93°32'23.337"W

34°30'6.84"N

93°32'22.457"W

0 100 20050

Legend

Management Area 14

Management Area 21

Proposed Disturbances

Existing Roads

Proposed Roads

OQC-278

Proposed Plan of Operations

Appendix B-9

Disturbance within Management Area 21

0.26 Acres

(within MA 21)

0 250 500125

Legend

Ozark Chinquapins

Proposed Disturbances

Existing Roads

Proposed Roads

OQC-278

Proposed Plan of Operations

Appendix B-10

Proposed Operations in Relation to Chinquapins

T3S-R24W

0 250 500125 Feet

Legend

Access Road

OQC-278

Appendix D-1

Active Quartz Contract OQC-278 "Fisher Mountain"

Ozark Chinquapin Buffer Zone*

*Buffer zone is approximately 25' from the Ozark Chinquapins, and no mining activities will be allowed to take place within this buffer zone.

T3S-R24W

0 250 500125 Feet

Legend

Access Road

OQC-278

Appendix D-2

Active Quartz Contract OQC-278 "Fisher Mountain"

Management Area 21 Management Area 14

QUARTZ LEASE 05.01.09