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• significant local economic entity, EFCI pays local property taxes to <br />Fremont County, for both Southfield mine and loadout facilities, provides <br />sales tax revenues on purchases of materials, supplies and services, and <br />pays State and Federal coal production taxes, a portion of which are <br />returned to local governments. <br />The Southfield Mine also provides an indirect benefit as a local source <br />of high quality stoker coal which can be effectively utilized by residents <br />and small industries in this area as an economical source of fuel. <br />PRODUCTION HISTORY <br />The mine began operation in 1978 under Dorchester's ownership and produced <br />7,500 tons of coal during the first partial year of operations. From 1918 <br />through 1985 when the mine was sold to EFCI, production rates gradually <br />increased to a level of approximately 300,000 tons per year. Since 1985 <br />• production has been maintained at a relatively constant level of between <br />450,000 and 550,000 tons per year with this same production rate projected <br />for approximately 7.5 years of future operations within the existing coal <br />reserve. EFCI has based both mine planning and permitting on a stable <br />production rate of approximately 550,000 clean tons of coal per year which <br />is limited both by capacity of the existing plant and anticipated market <br />demand. Both historical and projected future coal production are <br />summarized by Table 1, Production History/Projections. <br />MAXIMIZING CONSERVATION AND UTILIZATION OF COAL RESOURCES <br />EFCI strives in it's planning, mining, and coal preparation activities to <br />maximize recovery of all economically recoverable coal resources. EFCI, <br />through innovative mining practices is currently and will continue to <br />recover coal in areas where conditions would normally preclude underground <br />mining. EFCI has also devoted considerable attention and capital to <br />preparation plant modifications designed to optimize coal blending and <br />• maximize coal product recovery. <br />5 <br />