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<br />United States Department of the Interior <br />OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING <br />Reclamation and Enforcement <br />BROOKS TOWERS <br />1020 15TH STREET <br />DENVER, COLORADO 8020? <br />OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR <br />iii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii <br />MEMORANDUM ?~7/~I <br />T0: Andrew Bailey, Acting Director, OSM <br />FROM: Donald A. Crane~~ C <br />SUBJECT: Recommendation for ARCO Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine, Gunnison County, <br />Colorado (Federal Lease Nos. D-044569, C-0117192, C-1362) <br />I. Recommendation <br /> <br />Pursuant to 30 CFR 741.21(a)(1), I recommend approval with stipulations of the <br />Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine permit application submitted by ARCO Coal Company. <br />The mining and reclamation plan, with the adoption of the stipulations <br />included with this memorandum, will be in conformance with the applicable <br />Federal regulations C30 CFR 741.12(6)), the requirements of the Colorado State <br />Program, and the liineral Leasing Act, as amended. I am also recommending that <br />you advise the Assistant Secretary, Energy and lfinerals, under 30 CFR <br />741.12(a), that the ARCO Coal Company Mt. Gunnison No. 1 t-0ine plan be <br />approved. The permit term will be five years. <br />OSM and the State, in the course of the review, have identified some elements <br />of the applicant's proposal which, in order to be in compliance with the <br />approved State program and federal laws, require conditions. These conditions <br />are attached to the proposed permit RICO-0021, 7/81 and are included as part of <br />the preferred alternative of those alternatives analyzed. (See TEA on file in <br />the OSM Region V office, as part of the mining and reclamation plan, and 1n <br />the office of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division.) <br />II. Background <br />The PIt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine is a proposed underground coal mine intended to <br />mine federal coal. The site is located 1 mile east of Somerset in Gunnison <br />County, Colorado, at an elevation of 6,450 feet, with access to the site from <br />State Route 133 (see map, Attachment A). The portal entries will be located <br />on the south side of the North Fork of the Gunnison River, and the coal will <br />move via conveyor belts from portal to breaker to silo, thence across the <br />river to a railroad loadout station. The railroad is a branch of the Denver <br />and Rio Grande Western, and the coal will be shipped to unknown destinations. <br />The proposed operation would recover approximately 59 million tons of coal at <br />a maximum production rate of 2.8 million tons per year over a 40 year <br />life-of-mine. <br />