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Elk Creek Mine (C-1981-022) MT- 7 <br />Section I - Mine History and the Environment <br />Mine Status and PermittingHrX <br />The Sanborn Creek and Elk Creek Mines, operated by Oxbow Mining, LLC. are located in Delta and <br />Gunnison Counties, and are adjacent to the town of Somerset on Colorado State Highway 133. <br />The original permit under the Colorado Permanent Regulatory Program was issued to U.S. Steel Mining <br />Company, Inc. on 11 October 1983. Kaiser Coal Corporation acted as operator on the property from 1986 <br />to 1990. In 1990, their permit was transferred to Somerset Mining Company and Somerset completed the <br />permit renewal for another five year permit term. That permit period initiated 11 October 1988 and expired <br />11 October 1993. <br />Upon finalization of the purchase of the mine and transfer and renewal of the permit, Somerset Mining <br />Company proposed opening a new set of mine portals, named the Sanborn Creek Mine, to access, first, the <br />C seam and, then, ramp down to the B seam. Most of the production would come from the B seam. This <br />proposal was presented in the form of Permit Revision No. 1 (PR O1) submitted to the Division on 4 June <br />1990 and approved on 27 March 1991. The permit area was increased by 962 acres to a total of 3,737 acres, <br />1,608 acres of which were private land and 2,129 acres of which were federal land. Of the 962 -acre increase <br />in the permit area, 796 acres were private land and 169 acres were federal land. <br />Permit Revision No. 2 (PR 02) was submitted to the Division on 13 April 1992. The operator proposed to <br />add the Sanborn East Federal Coal Tract to the Sanborn Creek Mine plan. The Division approved the <br />permit revision, with a stipulation, on 25 September 1992. The stipulation, Stipulation No. 12, required the <br />mine plan approval from the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to be in place for coal lease COC 53510 <br />before the permit revision could receive final approval. The Division received OSM approval on 19 March <br />1993, and final approval of Permit Revision No. 2 was issued. This revision increased the permit area by <br />1,792 acres, 70 acres were private land and 1,722 acres were federal land. The total acreage of the permit <br />area was now 5,529 acres, 1,678 acres of which was private land and 3,851 acres of which was federal land. <br />On 12 April 1993, Somerset Mining Company submitted an application for renewal of a valid, existing <br />permit to conduct coal mining operations, Permit Renewal 02 (RN -02) for Permit No. C-81-022. The <br />application was deemed complete on the same day (12 April 1993). The permit renewal process was <br />completed on 22 October 1993. The new permit term started on 11 October 1993 and ended on 11 October <br />1998. <br />The permit was transferred from Somerset Mining Company to Pacific Basin Resources on 31 August 1995 <br />through Succession of Operator No. 2. At that time, the name of the mine was changed from the <br />Somerset/Sanborn Creek Mine to the Sanborn Creek Mine. <br />Permit Revision No. 3 was submitted to the Division on 13 May 1996. With the submittal of this revision <br />the operator requested to increase the permit area by 3,518 acres, to a total of 9,047 acres. Of the total permit <br />acreage, 3,553 acres were private land and 5,494 acres were federal land. Of the total increase in acreage, <br />1,875 acres were on private land and 1,643 acres were on federal land. The increase in acreage was to <br />incorporate the acquisition of the 160 -acre Eastern Lease Modification, and a permit boundary adjustment. <br />Page 3 of 14 <br />