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Section 2.04.3 Page 3 December 2021 (RN-02)  <br />inactive status in 1988. Tri-State Generation & Transmission purchased the power plant and <br />reconstructed the power plant using a new boiler technology called the recirculating fluidized <br />type power plant. Associated with the reconstruction of the power plant, Elk Ridge Mining and <br />Reclamation, a subsidiary of Tri-State purchased the Nucla Mine in 1992 and renamed it the <br />New Horizon Mine. Most of the existing New Horizon Mine operations are located to the west <br />of the town of Nucla, and to the south of the old Navajo and Nucla Mine sites, and south of the <br />NHN permit area. <br /> <br />Portions of the NHN Mine area have been disturbed by previous mining activities conducted by <br />PCC. PCC submitted an application for the Nucla Mine in April 1981, and in May 1983, Permit <br />No. C-008-81 was issued by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division. The February 1, <br />1980 aerial photography submitted with the PCC permit application shows that portion of the <br />south east area of the Rice tract, north of AA Rd, was already mined by this time. Subsequent <br />aerial photography dated April 19, 1986 shows that the southern area of this tract was largely <br />mined out at that time. Another aerial photograph dated August 1993 shows that the entire area <br />associated with the NH1 Mine Area had been reclaimed. It appears that some grading with the <br />existing drainage swale had just been finished. The swale flows largely across the south central <br />portion of this site. <br /> <br />PCC later incorporated the geographically separate Nucla East Mine into the permit in 1989. In <br />1992, the mining permit (C-1981-008) was transferred to Elk Ridge Mining and Reclamation, <br />and the two permit areas were renamed the New Horizon 1 (NH1) and New Horizon 2 (NH2) <br />Mines. All mining at NH1 (formerly the Nucla Mine) was completed by PCC, while mining at <br />NH2 (formerly Nucla East Mine) has been conducted solely by Elk Ridge Mining and <br />Reclamation. The remaining 103.42 acres of the NH1 Mine, also known as the Rice tract, was <br />incorporated into the NHN Mine permit prior to bond release of NH1. Map 2.04.3-2, Mining <br />Operations Pre-Law and Post-Law delineates areas previously mined, including “pre-law” <br />disturbance, NH1 and NH2 permit area boundaries and areas of previous coal extraction within <br />these permit boundaries. <br /> <br />Recent Changes in Land Uses within the New Horizon North Mine Permit Area <br /> <br />Excellent background information on the Glasier and Elk Ridge-Meehan properties was obtained <br />from Mr. Preston Carver, who has leased these two properties since 1984. He reported his <br />management experiences and shared information relative to the irrigation, cropping and grazing <br />uses the Carver Ranches have had on these properties. Additional valuable information was <br />obtained from Mr. Rex Case, who lives just to the east of the northeast corner of the Glasier <br />Property. His Grandfather Nygren was an original homesteader of a large portion of this site and <br />Mr. Case has been intimately familiar with this site for near 60 years. Mr. Ron Carver, another <br />current neighbor of the property married a daughter of the previous owner of the Glasier