2024-08-29_PERMIT FILE - C1980007 (2)

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West Elk Mine 2.05-44 Rev. 11/04, 03/06, 04/06 & 05/06- PR10; 08/09- TR118; 08/09-TR119; 09/09- MR357; 01/10- TR120; 10/12- MR-388 The Plant Control and Lab building is a two-story steel-sided building on the south side of the plant building. The preparation plant controls and operating facilities are housed on the top floor and third-party-operated laboratory facilities are housed on the bottom floor. These lab facilities replace the lab facilities formerly located near crushed coal stack-tube ST-4. Storage Silos Two silos provide temporary storage for product coal. These silos provide the storage capacity needed to accommodate MCC's production schedules and use of unit trains for shipping product coal from West Elk Mine. The reinforced concrete silos provide about 24,000 tons of product coal storage capacity. The silos were designed to reduce the hazard of spontaneous combustion by minimizing dead storage areas within the silo compartments. Crushed Product Coal Stacktubes and Underground Reclaim A 48-inch width conveyor belt transports crushed product-sized coal from the top of Silo No. 2 to stack-tube ST-4. This stack-tube is approximately 106 feet in height and is constructed similarly to the run-of-mine coal stack-tubes. The transfer structure on the top and the reclaim tunnel and conveyor belt underneath the area are also similar in construction to the run-of-mine coal stack-tube facilities. A dozer trap and reclaim system, located just west of the silos, is similarly constructed, as well. Product-sized coal will be conveyed from the Coal Preparation Plant on conveyors P3 and P5 to stack tube ST-5. Conveyor P-4, a 200 foot long, 48” wide conveyor designed to move product coal from conveyor P-3 to stack tube ST-4. P-4 can also be reversed to move product coal from product conveyor S-3 to ST-5. Product coal conveyor P-5 is designed to discharge only to ST-5. The R-5 reclaim conveyor and tunnel will be extended to a point east of ST-5 to provide for reclaim to the existing unit train loading conveyor. Loadout Facility MCC uses a pre-weigh, over-the-track type of loadout facility at West Elk Mine. In this facility, a surge bin receives the coal from the loadout conveyor. The coal is then transferred to a weigh bin. Finally, the weigh bin drops a measured amount of coal into a railroad car via a chute. The capacity of this system is 6,000 tons per hour. Two, double-walled (self-contained secondary containment) polyethylene tanks are located west of the loadout building to contain antifreeze (diethylene glycol) for treatment of coal and railcars for winter shipment. One 12-foot diameter tank contains approximately 15,000 gallons of antifreeze to spray on the coal as it is loaded. Another 12-foot diameter tank contains approximately 9,800 gallons of a thicker antifreeze to treat the railcars prior to loading. A concrete clean-up bunker is located to the east of the loadout building. The bunker is used to clean-up coal that occasionally spills during the loading process. The spilled coal is loaded into a truck and hauled to the main mine site.