Laserfiche WebLink
In Reply Refer To: <br />3485 (CO -921) <br />Certified Mail — Return Receipt Requested <br />DRAFT DECISION <br />Mountain Coal Company, LLC. <br />P.O. Box 591 <br />Somerset, Colorado 81434 <br />Royalty Rate Reductions Granted <br />On January 8, 2015, Mountain Coal Company LLC (MCC) submitted a Category 1 Expanded <br />Recovery - adverse geologic conditions - Royalty Rate Reduction (RRR) Renewal Application. <br />The application is for a renewal of a five-year royalty rate reduction granted effective February <br />1, 2010, for portions of the E -seam reserves where a split exceeds 6 inches in thickness in coal <br />leases COC 1362 and COC 67232. MCC is requesting a renewal of the royalty rate reduction <br />pursuant to section 39 of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, and the implementing <br />regulations at 43 C.F.R. 3485.2(c). <br />The application establishes that geologic and mining conditions have continued to be adverse at <br />present and will continue to be adverse into the future. MCC is applying for a RRR for a period <br />of five years that would affect approximately 10.3 million tons. This amount of coal reflects <br />areas within the two coal leases that have a six-inch or greater parting in the E -seam. Total mine <br />production during that five year period would be 25-30 million tons, so the RRR would involve <br />33 percent to 40 percent of all production. <br />The subject leases are being developed by longwall mining methods in accordance with the <br />approved Resource Recovery and Protection Plan for the West Elk Mine. Adverse geologic and <br />engineering conditions affecting the remaining E -Seam reserves include: <br />1. Parting in the E seam. Once mining began in the E seam, the area where a known parting <br />was greater than six inches thick was found to be larger than indicated by earlier drilling. In <br />order to minimize high ash longwall production, MMC uses a 4 -pass shearer cut to selectively <br />cut the parting in order to stockpile high ash or send rock directly to a refuse pile. The company <br />built a wash plant in 2010 in order to clean, blend and sell the higher ash coal. <br />