2025-10-07_PERMIT FILE - C1980007 (4)

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION The proposed project consists of drilling four (4) Mine Ventilation Boreholes (MVB’s) in Longwall Panel B26 to facilitate longwall mining in the B Seam if excessive methane is encountered that cannot be safely removed by the in-mine ventilation system. The proposed wells are in Section 34 T18S, R90W. R90W of the 6th Principal Meridian, Gunnison County, Colorado. The proposed project is within the current permitted coal mining area (Permit Number C-80-007) and on land surface managed by the US Forest Service. The wells will be drilled on Federal Coal (BLM) Leases C-1362 and COC-67232. An Environmental Impact Statement was prepared for this project by the USFS, the title is Deer Creek Shaft and E Seam Methane Drainage Wells Project. The US Forest Service is the surface management agency for the approval of drill pads and associated USFS low-volume roads. Roads are designed using Best Management Practices, field inspection, field variances (due to sensitive resource features) and design criteria of low-volume roads. The Record of Decision for this project will result when CDRMS deems MCC completeness for the B Seam Mine Ventilation Boreholes Project. The proposed MVBs in Longwall Panel B26 are the subject of this separate Technical Revision. The attached map “B Seam Panels 26 Mine Plan, Roads, Pads and Roadless Boundaries” at a scale of 1” = 600’ depicts the general locations of proposed drill pads, mine ventilation boreholes, and USFS low-volume roads. This map also shows the proposed MVBs in relation to the inventoried roadless area, land ownership, current May 2025 mine permit and lease boundaries and other mine features. SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY The elevations of the proposed borehole locations range from 7650 feet above sea level (ASL) at B26-1 to 8160 feet ASL at B26-3 for MVB pads. The terrain is comprised of moderate to steep slopes and mesa tops formed within the Wasatch and Mesa Verde Formations and the colluvium layers of slope debris. The principle drainages in this area are Deep Creek and Dry Fork Minnesota Creek, both are tributary to the North Fork of the Gunnison River. GEOLOGY The proposed Project would include drilling along the southeastern edge of the Piceance Basin within the Somerset Coal Field, occurring on the Somerset and Minnesota Pass U.S.G.S. 7 1/2- minute quadrangle maps. Initial geological work, in this area was, completed by W. T. Lee (1912), who reported his findings in, “Coal Fields of Grand Mesa and the West Elk Mountains, Colorado” (USGS Bulletin 510). Later in 1948, Ward H. Johnson published a USGS map of the Paonia Coal Field incorporating drill hole data generated through a USGS and U.S. Bureau of Mines drilling program. The