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Mountain Coal Company <br />May 18, 2015 RECEIVED <br />Mr. James R. Stark MAY 2 2 2015 <br />Colorado Department of Natural Resources <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety Division of Safety ion, <br />& <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Mining & afet <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Mountain Coal Company, LLC <br />West Elk Mine <br />P.O. Box 591 <br />Somerset, CO 81434 <br />Jessica A. Loveland, P.E. <br />Environmental Engineer <br />ilovelandAarchcoal.com <br />phone: 970.929.2308 <br />Re: Mountain Coal Company, LLC, West Elk Mine; Permit No. CO -80-007; Request for Phase I Bond <br />Release of Mine Ventilation Borehole Pads and Roads in the Dry Fork of Minnesota Creek Area <br />Dear Mr. Stark: <br />Please find enclosed Mountain Coal Company, LLC's (MCC) application for a Phase I Bond Release. At <br />this time, the following application does not include proof of publication of the public notice or return <br />receipts for the delivery of the landowner letters. These will be sent subsequent to MCC receiving them. <br />MCC requests Phase I Bond Release of $110,452.20 for mine ventilation borehole (MVB) sites and roads <br />that have been reclaimed within the Dry Fork of Minnesota Creek area (see Table I & II). These sites are <br />located on National Forest System lands within portions of Sections 33 and 34 of Township 13 South, <br />Range 90 West and Section 2 of Township 14 South, Range 90 West. These sites and roads were <br />necessary for temporary mine ventilation. <br />MCC's mining and reclamation permit was originally issued by the CDRMS in July 1981, and was reissued <br />August 1986, January 1993 (effective August 1991), July 1996, July 2001, July 2006 and July 2011. The <br />current five-year permit term expires July 31, 2016. MCC's five-year permit area contains lands in Sections 9- <br />11, 13-36, T13S, R90W, 6th PM; and Sections 23-26, T13S, R91W, 6th PM, and Sections 1-5 , 8-12, T14S, <br />R90W, 6th PM in Delta and Gunnison Counties. The location of the lands can be found on the USGS 7.5 <br />minute Somerset and Minnesota Pass quadrangle topographic maps. The current permit area encompasses <br />approximately 17,154.9 acres. <br />MCC holds reclamation surety bonds from Arch Insurance Company and Bond Safeguard Insurance <br />Company (Bond numbers SUI 116159 and 5010562, respectively) totaling $15 million. The reclamation <br />cost estimates for the reclaimed sites that are part of this request are covered by these bonds. <br />Reclamation of the various site locations and roads within MCC's permit was completed in 2014. This <br />included the plugging and abandonment of nineteen boreholes, as well as backfilling and regrading their <br />associated drill pad locations and access roads. The sites and roads proposed for bond release have been <br />revegetated and stabilized using various methods of seeding, fertilizing, mulching and <br />installation/application of straw mulch erosion control blankets. Approximately 10.05 acres have <br />received these treatments. <br />As agreed to in email correspondence dated January 25, 2011 (See Appendix H), MCC's Reclamation <br />Photograph Reports of the reclaimed MVB sites and associated roads are sufficient for documenting that <br />all facilities have been removed from each site and the sites have been regraded to approximate original <br />contour. Therefore, drawings showing cross-sections of the backfilled and graded areas, drainage control <br />facilities and the as -built reclamation have not been submitted with this request. The Reclamation <br />Photograph Report (initiated in 2004) has been an annual documentation project that MCC voluntarily <br />performs. It demonstrates and documents qualitative reclamation success over time. In addition to the <br />Page 1 of 2 <br />