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The Point Lookout Formation, which is the basal member of the Mesa <br />Verde Group, is divided into two parts. The upper member consists of <br />thick, massive beds of even - textured, medium - grained sandstone. The <br />lower member consists of thin sandstone beds with the Mancos Shale <br />below. The Point Lookout Formation has an average local thickness of <br />400 feet. <br />The Mancos Shale, which is exposed approximately four miles north of <br />the King I Mine, is of marine origin and composed of dark -gray to black <br />shale and silty to fine sandy shale with small amounts of dark -gray <br />argillaceous limestone in lenses. The Mancos Shale has an average local <br />thickness of 2000 feet. <br />The bedding of the above sedimentary rocks dips 2 -3 in a <br />south/ southwesterly direction. <br />STRATIGRAPHY <br />The Hesperus area, located on the northwestern flank of the San Juan <br />Basin, contains rocks of Quaternary and Cretaceous age. The <br />Quaternary sediments are confined to the valley bottoms and in <br />particular the La Plata River valley along the eastern portion of the area. <br />These deposits are primarily poorly consolidated gravels. <br />• The Cretaceous strata exposed in the project and adjacent area consists <br />of Mancos shale, the coal bearing Mesa Verde Group, and the Lewis <br />shale. The Mancos and Lewis shales are of marine origin and the <br />sediments of the Mesa Verde Group are of transitional to non -marine <br />origin. The Menefee formation, the middle member of the Mesa Verde <br />Group, is the primary coal bearing formation. The following is a brief <br />description of the strata encountered in the area from bottom to top. <br />Mancos Shale <br />The Mancos shale conformably overlies the Dakota sandstone and is <br />approximately 2,000 feet thick. It consists of dark gray to black shale <br />and silty to fine sandy shale with small amounts of dark -gray <br />argillaceous limestone in lenses and concretions which weather to a <br />bright yellow brown color. <br />Point Lookout Sandstone <br />The Point Lookout Formation is the basal member of the Mesa Verde <br />Group in the Hesperus area. In this area, the Point Lookout Formation <br />is divided into two members: a lower member made up of thin sandstone <br />beds with inter - bedded Mancos shale that comprises a transitional <br />• sequence above the Mancos shale; and an upper massive sandstone <br />GCC Energy, LLC King II Mine <br />Section 2.04.6 <br />Page 2 October, 2008 <br />T2 -1S <br />