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IK5� <br />kPPe"d,�c I�t.t <br />RARE EARTIi SCIENCE <br />www.rareearthscience.com <br />VIA EMAIL: ronthompson @newelkcoal.com <br />December 30, 2012 <br />Ron Thompson <br />New Elk Coal Company LLC <br />122 West First Street <br />Trinidad, Colorado 81082 <br />Re: Threatened & Endangered Species Inventory Update <br />Renewal No. 3 of Division of Reclamation Mining & Safety Permit No. C -1996 -084 <br />Lorencito Canyon Mine, Las Animas County, Colorado <br />Dear Ron: <br />This letter and the enclosed figures report the results of a threatened and endangered (T &E) species <br />inventory update completed by Rare Earth Science, LLC (Rare Earth), for Renewal No. 3 of <br />Lorencito Canyon Mine Permit No. C- 1996 -084. The original Colorado Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining, and Safety (DRMS) permit for the mine was issued in 1996.The DRMS requested this <br />update in a Permit Renewal Application Preliminary Adequacy Review dated July 5, 2012. <br />A criterion for permit renewal under Rule 2.07.6(2)(n) of the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land <br />Reclamation Board for Coal Mining (effective August 30, 1980) requires DRMS to make a finding <br />regarding whether permitted activities will affect the continued existence of T &E species or result in <br />destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitat. The purpose of this inventory update is to <br />provide a T &E species inventory for the permit renewal to reflect the current T &E lists (see Table 1, <br />below) issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Colorado Division of Parks & Wildlife <br />(CPW). As such, this letter is not a Biological Assessment intended to determine effects of the mine <br />permit renewal on T &E species, but rather annotated inventory to assist DRMS in its findings under <br />Rule 2.07.6(2)(n). <br />Lorencito Canyon Mine is an inactive coal mine located in western Las Animas County, Colorado, <br />south of State Highway 12 and about 2 direct miles east by southeast of the community of Weston <br />and about 18 miles west -by- southwest of the City of Trinidad. The renewal of the Lorencito Canyon <br />PO Box 1245 1 PAONiA, COIomdo 81428 1 970.527.8445 1 dAWN @RAREEARThSCIENCE.COM <br />