2018-03-09_REPORT - C1981044 (2)

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The Eagle Mine sites are located in an area, which has been historically mined by surface and underground mining. The earliest records of mining indicate that underground mining began in this area in the late 1920's and early 1930's, while surface strip mining began around 1975. The major mines which have operated in the past are: 1) Wise Hill (1,2,3,4), Williams Fork Strip (1,2,3), and Trapper Strip. The Trapper Strip Mine began operations in 1976 and has continued to date. Underground mining began at the Eagle No. 5 Mine in 1972, under a subsidiary of the Zigler Coal Co. The Cyprus Empire Corporation (CEC), a subsidiary of the Cyprus Coal Company, subsequently acquired the mines from Zigler in 1982, and began operating under an approved Colorado Mine Land Reclamation Board permit in August, 1983. In 1999, CEC was acquired by RAG EC. In April 2004, RAG EC was acquired by Peabody Energy, with the mine owned by Peabody's subsidiary, BTU, and the mine name changing to BTU Empire Corporation (BTU EC). In December 2009, the mine name was changed to William's Fork Mine (WFM) Hydrologic monitoring has been conducted at the mine site since 1980, primarily by CEC/RAG EC/BTU EC/WFM personnel. A private company (Miller Water Monitoring Service) has also been contracted to assist with some of the hydrologic monitoring over the last few years. Water quality samples are currently analyzed by ACZ Laboratories, Inc., of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, an USEPA certified laboratory. The Eagle No. 5 Mine, mining the "F" Coal Seam of the Cretaceous Age Williams Fork Formation, originally utilized room -and -pillar mining methods until 1985, when economics dictated a change to the longwall mining method. The aerial extent of the underground workings in the Eagle No. 5 Mine was approximately 2,040 acres in early 1990, when the No. 5 mine was sealed and mining moved to the Eagle No. 6 Mine. Full production in the Eagle No. 6 Mine began in late 1990, with coal extraction from the underlying "E" Coal Seam of the Williams Fork Formation. Coal mined at the No. 5 and No. 6 Mines was loaded on unit trains at the mine facility area and hauled by rail to market. The 5A portals and a short section of the No. 5 Mine mains were used for access to the Eagle No. 6 Mine. The aerial extent of the underground workings in the Eagle No. 6 Mine (underlying portions of the No. 5 Mine) was approximately 640 acres at in late 1995, when mining ceased. The mines were subsequently in temporary cessation (TC), until Williams Fork re -activated water monitoring during the second quarter of 2006, in anticipation of WFM considering options for future re -activation of the mine site, and because a bond release application was also being contemplated for the Utah Tract and Williams Fork Strip Pit portions of the mine property. During the third quarter of 2013, the mine reverted back to TC monitoring (discussed further below). In July 2013 all power was shut down on the mine property. Within a month or so of the shut -down, the site substation was partially dismantled. 2