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West Elk Mine
<br />shaft, one compartment for ventilation and the other for a mine hoist for transporting men and
<br />light materials. Ventilation shaft #1 is 650 feet deep and 34 -feet in diameter and shaft #2 is 693
<br />feet deep and 28 -feet in diameter. Both shafts are concrete -lined.
<br />The E Seam workings are accessed from the existing slopes between the F and the B seams. The
<br />two slopes are separated by approximately 100 feet horizontally, and the portion of the slopes
<br />between the F and the E seams is approximately 1,000 feet long. The southern B Seam longwall
<br />panels will be ventilated and accessed through three rock slope entries and a ventilation shaft
<br />between the E and B Seams. The rock slopes will be nearly 1,400 feet in length on a 14% grade
<br />and the ventilation shaft will be about 20 feet in diameter and 200 feet in depth.
<br />Production Methods and Equipment
<br />Longwall technology is employed at West Elk Mine. The first longwall (utilized in the northern
<br />B seam area) was acquired in 1992 and was updated over the years. A new longwall was
<br />acquired in 2008for mining the E Seam and is also well-suited for future mining the southern B
<br />Seam longwall panels.
<br />Longwall panels are developed using conventional continuous mining methods. Several key
<br />pieces of equipment, including continuous miners, diesel -powered coal haulers, roof -bolters,
<br />feeder -breakers, and other support equipment are used to develop headgate, tailgate, and other
<br />entries for the longwall panels.
<br />All coal is conveyed to the surface via conveyor systems. Other mining infrastructure includes
<br />electric power supply, water supply, water discharge, rock dust supply, compressed air supply,
<br />communications, mine monitoring, and other ancillary mining support systems. Associated
<br />surface facilities include main ventilation fans; mine dewatering installations; mine ventilation
<br />borehole systems; coal stockpiles; coal crushing, screening, and conveying systems; silos for
<br />coal storage; train loadout facilities; maintenance and warehouse facilities; office/bathhouse
<br />facilities; and various ancillary facilities.
<br />Coal Reserves and Recovery
<br />The West Elk Mine reserve base consists of mineable coal reserves in seven Federal coal leases,
<br />one private lease, and other fee coal properties. The Federal leases are D-044569, C-0117192,
<br />COC -56447, COC -54558, C-1362, COC -67011, COC -67232. The private lease is the Mt.
<br />Gunnison Fuel lease.
<br />Together, the eight coal leases and fee properties encompass about 17,728 acres. Federal leases
<br />D-044569, C-0117192, COC -54558, COC -56447, C-1362, COC -67011, and COC -67232
<br />account for 1,380 acres, 923 acres, 1,012 acres, 2,770 acres, 4,836, 690 acres, and 1,517 acres,
<br />respectively. The private lease and fee coal covers the remaining 4,600 acres.
<br />Six major coal seams exist on MCC lease holdings. The seams are identified alphabetically with
<br />the A Seam being the lowermost and the F Seam the uppermost. The intervals between the
<br />seams vary from as little as 15 feet to more than 250 feet. Current and future economically
<br />205-3 Rev. 11/04- PRII, 03/06- PRIO, 05/15- TR137
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