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West Elk Mine(C-1980-007) MT-9 <br /> additional coal was produced by extractive 'pillaring' of development workings in the E-seam not <br /> required to be left open for access or ventilation. <br /> Six major coal seams exist within the West Elk Mine permit boundary. The seams are identified by <br /> the letters A through F, in ascending stratigraphic order. The seams are separated by shale, siltstone, <br /> and sandstone beds that vary in thickness from 15 feet to more than 250 feet. MCC's leasehold has <br /> economically minable coal reserves in two of the seams, the B-seam and the E-seam. Mining was by <br /> room-and-pillar methods until 1992, when longwall mining began in the northern B-seam. A new <br /> longwall was acquired in 2008 for mining in the E-seam, and is intended to be used for future mining <br /> in the southern B-seam. <br /> MCC mined in the F-seam from 1982 to 1991 in leases D-004569 and C-0117192. This mining was <br /> only marginally successful. Poor mine roof conditions, sandstone channels, low coal areas, poor coal <br /> quality areas, and other unfavorable conditions have negatively affected mining and rendered the F- <br /> seam uneconomic under past and present market conditions. Mining in the F-seam has been <br /> discontinued, pending improved economics for this seam. <br /> Mining has been completed in the northern B-seam reserves (in leases D-044569, CO-117192, <br /> C0054558 and COC-67011), but recoverable reserves totaling an estimated 31.4 million tons remain <br /> in leases COC-56447, COC-67232 and C-1362. Since recoverable reserves in the E-seam overlie the <br /> projected B-seam panels, it is intended that most of the remaining E-seam reserves be mined out <br /> before returning to the southern B-seam reserves by new rock slope entries from the E-seam <br /> workings. <br /> Power to the mine is supplied via existing lines of the Delta-Montrose Electric Association. Power is <br /> stepped down at a substation in the main mine facilities area for powering underground operations <br /> and the surface facilities. <br /> Ventilation in the mine is provided by a fan in Sylvester Gulch and a vent shaft in Deer Creek,just to <br /> the east of Minnesota Reservoir, as well as numerous Mine Ventilation Boreholes (MVBs) which were <br /> constructed in advance of mining and operated so as to control the partial pressure of methane in the <br /> air inside the mine. In 2024, a new shaft was constructed between the B-and E-seams (adjacent to <br /> the existing Deer Creek shaft), to allow the continued ventilation of the mine using existing surface <br /> facilities (i.e., without the construction any new MVBs). <br /> The West Elk Mine portals are located at an approximate elevation of 6,450 feet. Run-of-mine coal is <br /> transported from the production panels to the various surface facilities by a system of belt conveyors. <br /> A conveyor carries coal from inside the mine portal to the stacking tubes. From the stacking tubes, an <br /> underground conveyor reclaim system transports the coal to the two crushers. A conveyor then <br /> moves the coal from the crushers to the two storage silos. A stack-tube located to the east of the <br /> silos provides additional storage for product coal. A loadout conveyor carries coal from the storage <br /> silos to the over-the-track loadout. A portion of this conveyor is completely enclosed where it crosses <br /> Page 9 of 14 <br />