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<br />26 <br /> <br />Description of the Operations and Reclamation Plans - Rules 2.05.3 and 2.05.4 <br /> <br />Mining at the West Elk Mine began in 1982. The West Elk Mine leasehold consists of mineable <br />coal reserves in seven Federal coal leases, one private lease and other fee coal properties. The <br />mine permit area encompasses approximately 19,854.9 acres. Coal production in 2017 was 4.9 <br />million tons, with 3-6 million tons of production projected annually from 2018 through 2023. <br />Coal is produced using the longwall mining method. <br /> <br />Six major coal seams exist within the West Elk Mine permit boundary. The seams are identified <br />by the letters A through F, in ascending stratigraphic order. The seams are separated by shale, <br />siltstone, and sandstone beds that vary in thickness from 15 feet to more than 250 feet. MCC’s <br />leasehold has economically minable coal reserves in two of the seams, the B Seam and the E <br />Seam. Mining was by room-and-pillar methods until 1992 when longwall mining began in the <br />northern B Seam. A new longwall was acquired in 2008 for mining in the E Seam, and is <br />intended to be used for future mining in the southern B Seam. <br /> <br />MCC mined in the F Seam from 1982 to 1991 in leases D-004569 and C-0117192. This mining <br />was only marginally successful. Poor mine roof conditions, sandstone channels, low coal areas, <br />poor coal quality areas, and other unfavorable conditions have negatively affected mining and <br />rendered the F Seam uneconomic under past and present market conditions. Mining in the F <br />Seam has been discontinued, pending improved economics for this seam. Existing workings in <br />the F Seam are shown on Map 50 of the PAP. <br /> <br />In April 1989, an application for a technical revision for an incidental boundary change to add <br />35.5 acres to the permit area was submitted. The revision was for access and associated <br />activities by way of slopes and a ventilation shaft from inside the existing F Seam workings to <br />the B Seam. The revision also included mining in the B Seam by room and pillar, as well as <br />longwall mining methods. The 35.5-acre incidental boundary change was necessary to <br />accommodate the B Seam main access entries. The Division subsequently issued a proposed <br />decision to approve the revision on July 12, 1989. <br /> <br />The mine plan for the B Seam is shown on Map 52 of the PAP. Mining has been completed in <br />the northern B Seam reserves (in leases D-044569, CO-117192, COC54558 and COC-67011), <br />but recoverable reserves totaling an estimated 31.4 million tons remain in leases COC-56447, <br />COC-67232 and C-1362. Since recoverable reserves in the E Seam overlie the projected B Seam <br />panels, it is intended that the E Seam be mined out before returning to the southern B Seam <br />reserves by new rock slope entries from the E Seam workings, as approved in TR-137. <br /> <br />In January 2000, elevated levels of indicator gases showed there was probable combustion in gob <br />in a mined-out area of the B-West mains. Operations were curtailed and MCC immediately <br />began an operation to access the B-seam by drilling into the mine from the Apache Rocks area <br />above. Approval was obtained from both the Division and the US Forest Service to initiate a <br />drilling program in that area. Nineteen 4-inch boreholes were drilled for locating the combustion <br />area and water was pumped into that part of the workings. In the spring of 2001, the Mine <br />Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) gave MCC permission to curtail the pumping of <br />water, so the company completely sealed off the area underground and initiated the approved <br />reclamation of the disturbed ground on the surface. <br />