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Mine Site Inspection <br />Mine Name: Colowyo Coal Mine <br />Operator: Colowyo Coal Company L.P. <br />Permit ID#: # C-1981-019 <br />Inspection Date: May 19 & 20, 2015 <br />Time: Tuesday 2:15 — 5:30 & Wednesday 7:30 — 4:00 <br />Inspection Type: Partial Oversight Inspection / Blasting Records Evaluation <br />Weather Conditions: Wet ground conditions, cool, cloudy, occasional light precipitation <br />Participants: <br />Christine Belka: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) #182 <br />Kurtis Blunt: Colowyo Coal Company (CCC) <br />Chip Brown: CCC <br />Lee Sampson: CCC <br />Martin Stearns: CCC <br />Howard Strand: OSMRE <br />Tony Tennyson: Tri-State Generation & Transmission Assoc. <br />Rob Zuber: Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS) <br />Background <br />This partial oversight inspection was conducted in conjunction with a topic specific evaluation of <br />blasting records at the Colowyo Coal Mine. The purpose of the blasting records review was to <br />evaluate and report on one aspect of customer service provided through DRMS's program. <br />Specifically, we evaluated whether blasting records are in compliance with the requirements of <br />Rule 4.08.5. Results of this review are included in this inspection report and will also be featured <br />a stand-alone Evaluation Year 2015 (EY2015) topic specific evaluation report and summarized <br />in the EY2015 Annual Report for Colorado. <br />The Colorado Oversight Team had also selected Colowyo for an evaluation of in -permit <br />development drilling this year. Colowyo conducted its last in -permit development drilling in <br />2013. All exploration drill holes located within the permit area were transferred to Notice of <br />Intent to Explore (NOI) X-95-109-5 through Technical Revision 50. Subsequently, all drill pad <br />locations have been either mined through or reclaimed and approved for release from DRMS's <br />jurisdiction. We therefore did not review in -permit drilling activities because there were no in - <br />permit drilling locations for us to evaluate. <br />Colowyo is an active, 29,076 acre, coal -producing surface mine in Moffat and Rio Blanco <br />counties. Coal was being mined from the South Taylor Pit at the time of inspection. There are <br />approximately 13 target coal seams at this time. CCC uses dragline, excavator, truck / shovel, <br />and highwall miner equipment for overburden removal and coal recovery operations. The South <br />Taylor Pit is approximately 460' at its deepest. Kurtis Blunt and Lee Sampson of CCC <br />participated in the field inspection. Martin Stearns (CCC) and Tony Tennyson (Tri-State <br />Generation & Transmission) participated in office discussions. <br />Rule 4.03: Roads <br />CCC crushes rock onsite for road surfacing within the permit area. Heavy equipment necessitates <br />1 1D 3 a e <br />