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—V�.-9 <br />Peabody Sage Creek Mining, LLC <br />Peabody Sane Creel: Mine <br />29515 1ZCIZ 27 <br />Oak Crecy, CO 80467 <br />Ms. Tabetha Lynch, Environmental Protection Specialist January 23, 2017 <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (CDRMS) RECEIVED <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 JAN% �� <br />303.866.3567 X8147 <br />Re: Sage Creek Mine (Permit No. C-2009-087), Temporary Cessat,o*NI QA RDCAFMATIQN <br />WHINING SAND SAFETY <br />Dear Ms. Lynch: <br />Given the current status and future plans for the Sage Creek Mine, Peabody Sage Creek Mining, LLC <br />(PSCM) requests that the Mine be placed in Temporary Cessation status, consistent with the applicable <br />provisions of Rule 4.30.1. Mine development and other site activities were suspended in Fall 2012, <br />and temporary portal seals were placed as a safety and security measure in 2013. The coal that had <br />been placed in the development coal stockpile was recovered in 2016 and transported to the Foidel <br />Creek Mine for shipment and sale. Since then the Mine has remained on care -and -maintenance status, <br />with site activities limited to regular site inspections, maintenance as required, ongoing hydrologic <br />monitoring, mine dewatering, and revegetation success monitoring and bond -release for the former <br />Seneca II disturbance areas. Given Peabody's current mining plans and near-term projections for <br />mining and related activities in Northwest Colorado, PSCM reasonably anticipates that Temporary <br />Cessation for the site will extend well beyond 30 -days, therefore, the following information is provided <br />consistent with applicable requirements of Rule 4.30.1(2): <br />a) The current permitted surface disturbance is 356.4 acres, including 287.6 acres of surface <br />disturbance associated with the former Seneca II Mine that is being used for mine facilities or <br />has been redisturbed, and 68.8 acres of new disturbance associated with the Sage Creek Mine. <br />Underground development and mining was limited to the four surface portals and initial <br />development entries, extending a maximum of approximately 600 feet in the Wadge Seam. In <br />addition, two dewatering boreholes were drilled from the surface into the initial development <br />entries, to be used for ongoing dewatering along with dewatering in the portal area. <br />b) With the exception of limited areas where there are shared facilities, essentially all areas of the <br />former Seneca II Mine disturbance have been fully reclaimed. As documented in the 2015 <br />Annual Reclamation Report, PSCM submitted SL -01 and received approval (09/05/13) for <br />Phase II bond release in 2013 on 445.8 acres of interim program and permanent program lands <br />that had received Phase I bond release under SL -01 and SL -04 for the Seneca II Mine (C-80- <br />005). PSCM also submitted and received approval (01/30/14) for Phase I release on 67.4 acres, <br />and final bond release (Phase II/III) on 68.8 acres of pre -law areas under SL -02. In 2014, <br />PSCM submitted SL -03 for Phase III bond release on 1,028 acres of permanent program lands <br />that had received Phase I/II bond release under SL -01, SL03, SL -04, and SL -05 for the Seneca <br />II Mine. The SL -03 Phase III bond release was approved for 1,026 acres in May 2015. <br />c) PSCM does not anticipate that any additional underground opening closures, backfilling, <br />regrading, revegetation, or water treatment will take place under Temporary Cessation. Current <br />