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Elk Creek Mine (C-1981-022) MT-8 <br /> Section I - Mine History and the Environment <br /> Mine Status and Permitting History <br /> The Sanborn Creek and Elk Creek Mines, operated by Oxbow Mining, LLC. are located in Delta and <br /> Gunnison Counties, and are adjacent to the town of Somerset on Colorado State Highway 133. <br /> The original permit under the Colorado Permanent Regulatory Program was issued to U.S. Steel <br /> Mining Company, Inc. on 11 October 1983. Kaiser Coal Corporation acted as operator on the <br /> property from 1986 to 1990. In 1990, their permit was transferred to Somerset Mining Company and <br /> Somerset completed the permit renewal for another five year permit term. That permit period began <br /> on 11 October 1988 and expired on 11 October 1993. <br /> Upon finalization of the purchase of the mine and transfer and renewal of the permit, Somerset <br /> Mining Company proposed opening a new set of mine portals, named the Sanborn Creek Mine, to <br /> access, first, the C seam and, then, ramp down to the B seam. Most of the production would come <br /> from the B seam. This proposal was presented in the form of Permit Revision No. 1 (PR 01) submitted <br /> to the Division on 4 June 1990 and approved on 27 March 1991. The permit area was increased by <br /> 962 acres to a total of 3,737 acres, 1,608 acres of which were private land and 2,129 acres of which <br /> were federal land. Of the 962-acre increase in the permit area, 796 acres were private land and 169 <br /> acres were federal land. <br /> Permit Revision No. 2 (PR 02) was submitted to the Division on 13 April 1992. The operator proposed <br /> to add the Sanborn East Federal Coal Tract to the Sanborn Creek Mine plan. The Division approved <br /> the permit revision, with a stipulation, on 25 September 1992. The stipulation, Stipulation No. 12, <br /> required the mine plan approval from the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to be in place for coal lease <br /> COC 53510 before the permit revision could receive final approval. The Division received OSM <br /> approval on 19 March 1993, and final approval of Permit Revision No. 2 was issued. This revision <br /> increased the permit area by 1,792 acres, 70 acres were private land and 1,722 acres were federal <br /> land. The total acreage of the permit area increased to 5,529 acres, 1,678 acres of which was private <br /> land and 3,851 acres of which was federal land. <br /> On 12 April 1993, Somerset Mining Company submitted an application for renewal of a valid, existing <br /> permit to conduct coal mining operations, Permit Renewal 02 (RN-02) for Permit No. C-81-022. The <br /> application was deemed complete on the same day (12 April 1993). The permit renewal process was <br /> completed on 22 October 1993. The new permit term started on 11 October 1993 and ended on 11 <br /> October 1998. <br /> The permit was transferred from Somerset Mining Company to Pacific Basin Resources on 31 August <br /> 1995 through Succession of Operator No. 2. At that time, the name of the mine was changed from <br /> the Somerset/Sanborn Creek Mine to the Sanborn Creek Mine. <br /> Page 3 of 22 <br />