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Peabody Sage Creek Mine (C-2009-087) MT- 2 <br />Section I - Mine History and the Environment <br />Mine Status and History <br />Description of the Environment <br />The Peabody Sage Creek Mine (PSCM) is an underground mine located in Routt County, <br />approximately 9 miles southeast of the town of Hayden, Colorado. The Peabody Sage Creek Mine is <br />currently in temporary cessation status. When the mine was established it utilized continuous miners <br />for entry and development work. The permit area encompasses approximately 10,164 acres of which <br />1,766.4 acres were previously disturbed and portions reclaimed by Seneca Coal Company (SCC) under <br />the Seneca II Mine (CDRMS permit C-1980 -005). With the reduction in the proposed disturbance <br />acreage associated with the approval of MR -13, the total disturbance acreage is 146.41 acres (79.56 <br />acres of previous permanent program disturbance that had been bond released and will be re - <br />disturbed, 52.6 acres of new disturbance under the original permit submittal, and 14.25 acres of new <br />disturbance associated with revisions subsequent to the original permit submittal). <br />The permit area varies in elevation from 6,600' to 7,800' with the portal openings at 6,690' along <br />Little Grassy Creek. The main mine facilities lie in Sections 2 and 3, Township 5 North, Range 8 West <br />and Sections 27, 34, and 35, Township 6 North, Range 87 West of the 6th Principal Meridian, and are <br />located adjacent to an active surface mine excavated originally by Seneca Coal Company's ( SCC) <br />surface mining operation (Permit No. C- 1980 -005). <br />The post- mining land uses are rangeland, recreational use, and wildlife habitat. <br />The Sage Creek Mine permit does not include a variance under Rules 2.06. 2 (experimental practices), <br />2.06.3 (mountaintop removal), and 2.06.5 (approximate original contour (AOC) for steep slope <br />mining). No variance from contemporaneous reclamation for combined surface and underground <br />mining operations (2.06.7) is needed due to the fact that the Seneca II Mine ceased operations in <br />1999 and has been reclaimed; the excavated pit accessing the Wadge Seam to construct mine portals <br />and other facilities to support an underground mine is not considered surface mining; and the <br />Peabody Sage Creek Mine reclamation bond includes any remaining facilities from the Seneca II Mine. <br />Topoeraphv <br />The proposed PSCM permit area is located in the Yampa Coal Field, on the southern margin of the <br />Sand Wash Basin in the foothills of the Williams Fork Mountains. The Williams Fork Mountains <br />extend about 30 miles from east to west across northwestern Colorado. Elevations in the permit area <br />and adjacent areas are between 6,600 feet and 7,800 feet. The average elevation of the permit area <br />is approximately 7,040 feet. Most of the permit area is covered by rolling hills with agricultural fields <br />Page 3 of 12 <br />