2020-10-27_PERMIT FILE - C1981035 ‎(23)‎

• Permit No: C1981035
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 10/27/2020
• Section_Exhibit Name: KII Appendix 15 E.A. Dunn Ranch LBA
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
of Colorado State Highway(SH) 140 (Appendix A, Figure 1-1).The coal is transported by truck via La Plata
County Road (CR) 120 (under LPC Class II Land Use Permit#2012-0089) and Colorado SH 140 primarily to
a railhead in Gallup, New Mexico, and directly to GCC owned cement facilities in New Mexico and Arizona,
as well as to other small volume markets in the southwestern Colorado area. Section 1.2, Background in
the 2017 EA(BLM and OSMRE 2017) provides additional background information.
Most of the lands encompassed by the mine, including the existing federal lease COC-62920, as well as
the proposed LBA area, are split-estate lands where the federal government has retained ownership of
the subsurface coal (and other minerals) but has disposed of the surface estate (Appendix A, Figure 1-3).
The UMU Tribe acquired much of the split-estate surface in this area,with other entities owning a smaller
portion of the surface estate.The lands acquired by the UMU Tribe are not part of the Ute Mountain Ute
Tribe Reservation. In addition, a small portion of the lands in the existing mine permit area and the LBA
are both privately owned surface and mineral estates (Appendix A, Figure 1-4).
On January 10, 2018, GCCE submitted an initial LBA to BLM to lease federal coal resources in LPC,
Colorado, containing approximately 2,462 acres. In February 2018, GCCE applied to the TRFO to amend
Exploration License COC-76563 to add 11 exploration holes to the Exploration Plan to obtain additional
information on the coal resources in the LBA. On May 15, 2018, TRFO approved the Exploration License
Amendment and GCCE drilled five exploration holes between July and September 2018. The LBA was
modified numerous times based on the results of the new exploration drilling during collaboration
between BLM and GCCE. The LBA area is located outside but adjacent to the OSMRE permit area of the
GCCE King II Mine (Appendix A, Figure 1-2).
BLM calculations indicate that there are 9.54 million tons of recoverable federal coal in the proposed LBA
area. This includes approximately 1.3 mt of recoverable private coal reserves, and approximately 2.5 mt
of recoverable existing reserves still to be mined within the current mine permit area, for a total of 13.4
mt. GCCE estimates that there are an additional 3.6 mt of coal (i.e. inferred based on current geologic
information)that may be recoverable in part through using a slightly higher recovery factor than BLM and
from blending higher grade coal from the LBA with lower grade coal. For the purposes of determining the
total coal to be mined and the life of the mine under the Proposed Action, GCCE is including: 1)the LBA
confirmed recoverable federal coal reserves; 2)the confirmed privately owned recoverable coal reserves
to be mined while accessing the federal coal; and 3) GCCE's slightly larger estimate of coal that could be
minable, beyond BLM's calculations, for a total of approximately 17 mt proposed to be mined. If this 17
mt is mined in a continuous manner,and at the start of mining in the LBA area some of that coal is blended
with the remaining coal in the lease modification area to improve coal quality, this would represent
approximately 22 years of additional coal production at the GCCE King II Mine. The projected mine life
and operating plans of the GCCE King II Mine, if the LBA is leased to GCCE, are anticipated to extend
through the year 2043. Without the LBA, GCCE estimates that the mine life would only extend through
the year 2022.
Dunn Ranch Area Coal Lease by Application COC-78825 and Mine Plan Modification EA 1-3