Laserfiche WebLink
Description of the Operation and Reclamation Plans <br /> The current permit area covers 11,156.69 acres. This PRI 1 application will allow the company to <br /> continue mining and reclamation as currently approved while expanding the permit boundary by <br /> 13 7.1 acres to comprise a total of 11,293.79 acres. <br /> Mining Method <br /> Total cumulative coal production over the life of the Trapper mine is projected to be a maximum of <br /> 74 million tons. Coal mining occurs at the Trapper Mine using surface mining methods and auger <br /> mining. For surface mining, draglines remove overburden and interburden, while front-end loaders <br /> and haul trucks remove the coal seams. Trapper Mining, Inc. has historically oriented the pits north- <br /> south,parallel to the downhill dip of the coal seams. PR5 reoriented pits G, F and Z(East F-Pit) <br /> parallel with the strike of the coal seams in an east-west direction. Strike line pits progress from <br /> north to south. Each successive pit cut occurs next to and parallel to the previous cut. When more <br /> than one seam is recovered in a pit, partings are removed by dozer, or backhoe, or similar equipment <br /> if thin;or by dragline, if thick. <br /> The October 2006 landslide in the East Panel of Trapper Mine created a need for a change in mining <br /> methods for the East Panel area, resulting in Permit Revision PR6. The K-Pit and L-Pit <br /> (originally identified as G Pit) were originally planned as dragline pits, consistent with Trapper's <br /> historical mining method. <br /> Strip Pits <br /> Trapper mined or plans to mine coal from the following four pits during the 2023-2027 permit term: <br /> 1. Lancaster (L), Pit <br /> 2. Nighthawk (N)Pit <br /> 3. I Pits (East, Middle) <br /> 4. J Pit(West), and <br /> 5. C Pit <br /> Pits advance generally southward. Individual cuts in pits are as much as 6,000 ft. long. The <br /> maximum width of a cut is 200 feet. In 2002, D-Pit progressed to the point that it merged with E-Pit. <br /> This combination D/E-Pit is approved for ash disposal,however TMI plans to reclaim this pit as <br /> there is no longer a need to utilize the D and E Pits for ash disposal. A(Ashmore)pit remains open <br /> for ash disposal (see description of ash disposal below). Highwall mining in I Pit began in 2021. I <br /> and J Pits comprise single seam pits to the F and G2 seams. N Pit was opened in 2021 for highwall <br /> mining in the L, M and Q seams. C Pit proposes mining in L seam and down to the Q seam. <br /> Opening I Pit West was initially proposed and has since been withdrawn from the RI I permitting <br /> action. <br /> Auger/Higwall Mining <br /> Auger or"highwall mining"is conducted in the end walls of the C, I, J, L and N pits. The pits are <br /> developed in sections from west to east with contemporaneous backfilling minimizing the out-of-pit <br /> spoil placement. An HW N800 Addcar System is utilized. A launch vehicle platform, sitting on the <br /> boxcut floor controls the systems functions, rigid conveyor cars each fitted with a belt conveyor are <br /> fed by a remote controlled underground continuous miner. Real Time feedback to the outside <br /> 9 <br />