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storage, office building, shop buildings, railroad tracks, two portals, conveyors, coal silos, <br /> substations, fans, air shafts, a water tank, a parking lot, four sediment ponds, ditches, culverts, <br /> roads, and a refuse disposal area. Surface facilities added as a result of permitting actions <br /> included a refuse disposal valley fill and sediment pond north of Highway 12, two new topsoil <br /> stockpiles, coal stockpiles, conveyors, a preparation plant and thickener tank, and the Jansen <br /> Loadout. Other surface disturbance away from the main mine site includes monitoring wells and <br /> fan pads such as the Northwest Airshaft(formerly part of the Golden Eagle Mine permit area), <br /> added to the permit with TR-72. <br /> Mining at the New Elk Mine began with the use of the West Portal and East Portal to access the <br /> Allen Seam. The mining entailed the use of both continuous miners and longwall mining <br /> methods. The mining mainly progressed to the south and east. Old workings are shown on Map <br /> 3 along with the current mine plan, which is also described in Section 2.05.2 of the PAP. In <br /> 2011, NECC constructed a new set of portals (Bates Portals) located southeast of the coal silos. <br /> The mine plan for the Blue Seam progresses to the east and north. Also in 2011, NECC <br /> reopened the Allen Seam. The Allen Seam mine plan progresses mainly to the south and east. <br /> In July 2012, NECC suspended coal extraction and the mine was classified as being in <br /> Temporary Cessation (TC-01). Since that time, the status has been changed to Active in <br /> anticipation of the resumption of mining, although currently the mine is on "care and <br /> maintenance" status, and no mining operations have taken place in recent years. <br /> Several structures have been approved for permanent storage of mine waste at the New Elk <br /> Mine. <br /> • The Refuse Disposal Area(RDA)was permitted in 1984 and is a valley fill north of <br /> Highway 12. Refuse from coal processing (from both the New Elk Mine and the <br /> Lorencito Canyon Mine nearby) has been transported by conveyor over Highway 12 and <br /> deposited in the RDA. Pond cleaning material is also hauled to the RDA on occasion. <br /> • Pond cleaning material was also added to the original refuse pile, now referred to as the <br /> Development Waste Pile (DWP) southwest of the main mine entrance. This pile also <br /> received small quantities of rock. The DWP reached its maximum size in late 2006 and <br /> was regraded, topsoiled, and reseeded. <br /> • Construction of the Bates portals and development of workings to access the Blue Seam <br /> resulted in construction of a subsoil stockpile and the Development Waste Disposal Area <br /> (DWDA#2). The DWDA#2 is located southeast of the main entrance. <br /> • In 2012 with TR-65, the Division approved construction of another area for disposal of <br /> development waste, DWDA#3, in the West Portal area. No significant amount of <br /> development waste material has been placed in this area. <br /> During reclamation, the bench areas at the mine will be graded to the approximate original <br /> contour. The disturbed areas will receive nine inches of topsoil or will be ripped (depending on <br /> the area as discussed below), then seeded and mulched to establish a vegetative cover of a <br /> variety consistent with surrounding vegetation. The stream channel diversion of the Middle Fork <br /> of the Purgatoire River, which was approved under Permit Revision 91, is permanent and will <br /> New Elk Mine <br /> November 2019 Findings for RN-07 <br /> 7 <br />