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West Elk Mine <br /> <br />2.05-1 Rev. 11/04- PR11, 03/06- PR10, 05/15- TR137 <br />2.05 APPLICATION FOR PERMIT FOR SURFACE OR UNDERGROUND MINING <br />ACTIVITIES <br />2.05.1 Objectives <br /> <br />This section is an overview of the underground coal mining operation and the associated surface <br />operation MCC plans to continue using at West Elk Mine. The life of the mine may be about 40 <br />years, depending upon the financial viability of the operation. <br /> <br />2.05.2 Operation Plan – Estimated Area for Life of Operation <br /> <br />West Elk Mine has been producing coal since 1982. Before 1990, coal was produced from the F <br />Seam using the room and pillar method. In 1990, MCC accessed the B Seam and developed <br />longwall panels suitable for modern longwall mining equipment. Longwall mining of the <br />northern B Seam reserve areas continued through 2008. In 2004, MCC initiated work to develop <br />entries and longwall panels in the E Seam and longwall mining commenced in late 2008. In <br />2015, MCC began development of rock slopes from the E Seam to the B seam, and thereafter <br />will initiate development mining activities in the B Seam to support future longwall mining <br />beneath mined E Seam longwall panels LWE1 through LWE5. MCC could not longwall mine in <br />the B Seam below these E Seam longwall panels earlier without potentially rendering them <br />unminable. <br /> <br />Mine Layout <br /> <br />The extent of the F Seam mine workings of West Elk Mine are shown on Map 50. The mined <br />and projected B Seam mine workings are shown on Map 52. The mined and projected E Seam <br />mine workings are shown on Map 51. The F Seam portals and principal surface facilities are <br />located in Section 16 of Township 13S, Range 90W, 6th P.M. <br /> <br />MCC developed the F Seam by driving a series of main entries from the point where the seam <br />outcrops. A total of nine main intakes and seven main returns were driven. The main entries <br />were driven southwest to avoid an area along the margin of Sylvester Gulch of predicted poor <br />hydrologic and geologic mining conditions. Submains were developed east and west from the <br />main entries. From these submain entries, room and pillar panels were developed. <br /> <br />MCC accesses and ventilates the unsealed entries of the mined northern B Seam workings via <br />two slopes and a ventilation shaft driven from the main intakes of the existing F Seam workings <br />(Figure 16). Ventilation and access to B Seam is also provided by ventilation shafts constructed <br />in Sylvester Gulch. One of the slopes from F Seam is a haulage entry for men and materials and <br />an intake airway. The second slope entry contains a 60-inch conveyor belt. Both slopes are <br />approximately 2,450 feet long with a 14 percent grade. The haulage entry is about 18 feet wide <br />by 11 feet high. The slope entry with the conveyor belt is 14 feet wide by 9 feet high. <br /> <br />A 400-foot long by 18-foot diameter ventilation raise connects the B Seam return air entries with <br />the return air entries of the F Seam. Intake shaft #1 in Sylvester Gulch provides a primary <br />escapeway from and ventilation to the B Seam. This intake shaft is a two-compartment