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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 3 <br />Summary <br /> <br />Permit C-1981-018 <br /> <br />Western Fuels-Utah, Inc. submitted an application for a new permit on March 12, 1980. The <br />Division (then called the Mined Land Reclamation Division) issued permit C-81-018 on July 27, <br />1981. <br /> <br />Transfer of Ownership <br /> <br />On May 28, 1997 the Division approved a transfer of ownership of the Deserado Mine from <br />Western Fuels-Utah, Inc. to Blue Mountain Energy, Inc. <br /> <br />History <br /> <br />The Deserado Mine is an active underground mine operation presently located in both Rio <br />Blanco County and Moffat County, approximately nine miles northeast of Rangely, Colorado <br />along County Road 65 near Kenney Reservoir. The initial Division permit for the operation was <br />issued to Western Fuels-Utah, Inc., (former operator) on July 27, 1981. Facilities construction <br />and underground development were initiated shortly thereafter. <br /> <br />Mining operations during previous permit terms have utilized long wall extraction and room and <br />pillar techniques to extract coal from the “D” Seam. “D” Seam mining within the permit area <br />was completed in 1999, with operations shifting to the underlying “B” Seam, beginning with <br />development mining in 1998/1999, and initiation of longwall extraction in early 2000. Mining <br />operations and schedules were substantially altered by a mine fire in Longwall Panel 9, in the <br />northeast portion of the permit area, in January 1996. The entire “D” seam longwall mining <br />district in the northern portion of the permit area was eventually sealed off, and the longwall <br />equipment was not recovered. <br /> <br />The Deserado Permit was previously renewed on August 13, 2014. The permit was approved for <br />a five-ye ar term ending on July 27, 2019. <br /> <br />Description of the Environment <br /> <br />Elevations at the Deserado mine site range between 5,300 and 5,900 feet above sea level. The <br />permit area and adjacent areas are characterized by gently rolling to moderately steep landforms. <br />Slopes range from 0 to 6 percent in the valleys and level uplands and up to 50 percent on <br />drainage side slopes. The area is semi-arid and characterized by light rainfall, low relative <br />humidity, and moderate winds. Mean annual precipitation is 9 to 10 inches, with peaks in spring <br />and late summer/early fall. <br /> <br />The mine is located in the White River Basin, which is the eastern portion of the larger Uinta <br />Basin. The mine lies within the interbedded sandstone and siltstone strata of the Mesaverde <br />Group in the Williams Fork Formation. The Mesaverde Group consists of the Lower Iles <br />Formation and the Upper Williams Fork Formation, which are separated by the Trout Creek