2022-02-22_PERMIT FILE - C1980007 (4)

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West Elk Mine 2.04-5 Rev. 06/05- PR10, 03/06- PR10, 04/06- PR10, 09/07- PR12; 07/18- PR15; 01/22- MR459 This seam lies approximately 400 feet below the F Seam in the same geographical area as the West Elk Mine. Consequently, the Bear No. 1 and No. 2 Mine workings partly underlie the northern- most West Elk Mine workings. Map 5 shows the Bear No. 1 and No.2 mine workings that lie entirely on leases held by MCC. The Bear No. 1 and No. 2 Mines were room and pillar type mines. Because the Bear Coal Company began mining the C Seam 45 years before MCC obtained its leases, it was allowed to mine the C Seam under an assignment of operating rights from MCC. However, Bear Coal Company’s operations were limited by provisions to not preclude subsequent recovery of the multiple seams above the current workings. Bear Coal Company also operated the Bear No. 3 Mine. This mine was opened in 1982 next to West Elk Mine and closed in 1996. The Bear No. 3 surface facilities were located on property owned by MCC and leased to Bear Coal Company. The Bear No. 3 Mine mined in the B Seam underlying the C Seam works mentioned above. This coal was partly within leases assigned to the Bear Coal Company by MCC. The Bear No. 3 Mine has been closed, the mine openings sealed, and associated surface facilities and disturbance removed and reclaimed. Oxbow Mining Company, LLC completed mining of the Sanborn Creek Mine and operated the adjacent Elk Creek Mine until 2013. The Sanborn Creek Mine portals were east of the former Somerset Mine's surface facilities and the Elk Creek portals were located north of the surface facilities. Local Land Use Classification Gunnison County Regulation of land uses and development in unincorporated Gunnison County is administered by the Gunnison County Board of County Commissioners through the Planning Office and its staff. Gunnison County is a non-zoned county with respect to land uses. In Gunnison County agriculture and rural residential (one residential unit per 35 acres) are designated as “use-by-right”. Any other land use must be approved through a land use change contained in a specific land use resolution approved by the Gunnison County Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners. Impacts, compatibility, and compliance with land use policies are evaluated on an individual basis for each land use change requested by a property owner (Schmalz, 1995; Williams, 1994). Currently, MCC has an approved land use change within Land Use Resolution No. 38, Series 1981 (and subsequent amendments) approved by the Gunnison County Board of County Commissioners. The land use change allows for the development and operation of West Elk Mine. In order to address normal mine surface disturbance and development activities while minimizing county reviews and approvals that may duplicate the CDRMS permitting process, Gunnison County and local coal operators have reached agreement on limited exemptions from the County planning process. For existing coal operations within an area designated as the North Fork Valley Energy Resources Special Area, County planning review and approvals are minimal for surface disturbance and development activities associated with the existing mines.