2014-12-24_INSPECTION - C1981012

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December 17, 2014 C- 1981- 012/New Elk Mine LDS The portals to the Allen Mine were in the process of being permanently sealed. The rope portal was almost completely sealed and the construction of the seal had begun in the beltline portal. The beltline had been cut. Since there was not time for NECC to retrieve the material, only the apparatus above the surface will be salvaged for scrap. The Bates Portals had been secured but will not be sealed, and the ventilation fan had been shut off. Doors had been locked to secure the ventilation and beltline portals and a gate had been pulled across the central access portal. Underground there were 2 continuous miners, 4 bolters, some shuttle cars and a feeder breaker to bring back to the surface. The power center will probably be left underground. The direction from MSHA is that the fans must be started and run for at least an hour before anyone goes underground. The frequency with which people will go underground is apparently at the discretion of NECC, and is likely to end up at about once a month. As previously stated, three airshafts need to be sealed in order to abate the MSHA citation: the West fan shaft, the East fan shaft and the second of the two Apache Canyon shafts. The Apache Canyon airshaft is expected to be a straightforward job since it only requires that the concrete cap be rebuilt. The West fan will require more work since the equipment on the top of the shaft will need to be dismantled and stored, and a new concrete cap assembled. The East fan is a far more difficult job since the scale of the equipment and of the shaft itself is larger; it is likely that an extension to the deadline will be requested from MSHA and that the job will be contracted out. With the exception of a small pile of raw met grade coal from the Allen mine stockpiled on the raw coal pad, all the stockpiled coal had been washed and the wash plant was in the process of being winterized. Approximately 3000 tons of clean coal were stockpiled and are expected to be shipped to the cement plant. There was no plan for the Allen coal, and it may be that it ends up being sent up to the RDA as waste. Air inlets underneath the raw coal stockpile area had been exposed, which allows NECC to shut of the fan ventilating the beltline to the wash plant. A man had been convicted of the vandalism and theft that took place at the Jansen rail loadout earlier in the year (amongst other crimes). NECC had taken additional measures to secure mine property, including mounting additional cameras which will have the capacity to be monitored from the control room. EXCESS SPOIL and DEVELOPMENT WASTE — Rule 4.09 Placement; Drainage Control; Surface Stabilization: No more waste had been added to the temporary development waste stockpile and no more is expected. HYDROLOGIC BALANCE - Rule 4.05 Drainage Control 4.05.1, 4.05.2, 4.05.3; Siltation Structures 4.05.5, 4.05.6; Discharge Structures 4.05.7, 4.05.10; Diversions 4.05.4; Effluent Limits 4.05.2; Ground Water Monitoring 4.05.13; Surface Water Monitoring 4.05.13; Drainage — Acid and Toxic Materials 4.05.8; Impoundments 4.05.6, 4.05.9; Stream Buffer Zones 4.05.18: A staff gauge had been set in pond 7, adjacent to the emergency spillway (see photo 5). The red mark shows the elevation of the emergency spillway and the green mark shows the elevation that the water in the pond could reach and still have sufficient capacity to retain the 10 year 24 hour event. The staff gauge shows that there is ample capacity in the pond. Mr Terry said that NECC would likely clean the pond at the west end in any case. Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 4 Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 2 Page 3 of 11