2014-06-03_INSPECTION - C1981019

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May 21, 2014 C- 1981 - 019 /Colowyo Coal Mine JRS ROADS — Rule 4.03; Construction 4.03.1(3)/4.03.2(3); Drainage 4.03.1(4)/4.03.2(4); Surfacing and Maintenance 4.03.1(5) and (6)/4.03.2(5) and (6); Reclamation 4.03.1(7)/4.03.2(7): - The mine's main entrance and haul road is a paved road. This road is well maintained and stable. - The South Taylor haul road was stable and well maintained at the time of the inspection. The road was surfaced and there were no ruts or erosional problems noted on the road. Colowyo was actively watering the road to help control fugitive dust at the time of the inspection. Colowyo has an approved Technical Revision to construct a new haul road. At that point this road will no longer be needed and can be reclaimed. - The Sturgeon Road (to the Section 28 Pond) was well maintained and stable. The road is surfaced with gravel. There were no ruts or erosional problems noted on the road. The roadside ditch is stable and well vegetated. There were no erosional problems noted and there was very little sediment observed in the ditch. The Missouri crossings were all in place and constructed as designed. - The Taylor Road (the the West Pit, East Taylor and West Taylor ponds) was basically stable at the time of the inspection. There is some rutting on the road from the wet winter and spring conditions. The road up to the East Taylor pond needs to be bladed. The worst spots are the areas by sump 2 and sump 5. These are areas where water tends to collect. The ditch was mostly clean, with sediment observed in the areas by sump 2 and sump 5. The ditch will need to be cleaned as necessary. - The road from the Gossard pond to the Rail Loop and Stoker Siding ponds had some erosion on the edge. The erosion was just north of the Gossard pond. It appears as though water flower out of the roadside ditch and traveled down the road (although there was no apparent damage to the ditch). Colowyo will need to blade this portion of the road. RECLAMATION SUCCESS - Rule 4.15, Rule 3: - Overall the reclamation at the Colowyo Mine is very good. The 2013 reclamation blocks appear to have good early emergence and remain stable. The older reclamation has very good to excellent cover. There were a few minor problems (noted above) that need to be addressed but overall there were very few problems. Colowyo has completed a substantial amount of reclamation in the last five years. SIGNS AND MARKERS — Rule 4.02: - The mine ID sign at the mine entrance was in place and contained all of the required information. - There were mine ID signs at all of the roadside ponds (Section 28, Prospect, Gulch A and Streeter). These signs all contained the required information. - There were mine ID signs periodically along the permit boundary on Colorado Highway 13. These signs all contained the required information. SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF MINING — Rules 4.22 through 4.27: - As noted above, Colowyo was highwall mining in the South Taylor Pit. They were mining the G7 /G8 seam on the east side of the pit. At the time of the inspection they were basically in the middle of the pit. The operator was backfilling the mined out openings as required. They were not hauling any of the coal out of the South Taylor Pit. Once they have completed the highwall mining of the G7 /G8 seam they will move to the West Pit, where they will mine the F -Seam. They will keep moving back and forth from the South Taylor Pit to the West Pit as they progress up the seams to the top. Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 12 Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 3 Page 6 of 24