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<br />The seams are 350 feet apart vertically; both seams would be mined in the same <br />manner with the same general layout. The coal seams would be mined by the <br />longwall system supplemented with room and pillar extraction in the corners of <br />the leases and perimeter of the unit (see map 3). <br />The longwall mining system is a method of mining coal on a 500 to 700-foot <br />long face that is from 6 to 12 feet high. Highly specialized, and expensive, <br />equipment is required for this mining method. This method would yield a 50 to <br />60 percent recovery rate. Controlled subsidence of the overburden is part of <br />this mining method. The amount of subsidence and resulting surface <br />disturbance is a factor of the mining method and geologic structures of the <br />remaining overburden (see map 3). <br />All state and federal safety rules and regulations will be complied with. <br />Plans and training will be updated at regular intervals as the mine develops <br />and production expands. <br />Refuse and Spoil Disposal Procedures <br />Refuse and spoil from the mine will be placed in a refuse disposal area, <br />covered with top soil and seeded (see map 2). Human waste will be processed <br />by septic tanks. <br />The bulk of the waste would be rejects from the washed coal. It will be <br />placed in excavated areas with the previously excavated and stockpiled <br />material redistributed over it, and the separately stockpiled top soil will be <br />redistributed on top. This top soil will then be fertilized and seeded to <br />obtain the required vegetative cover. <br />The excavation and covering will be done in steps and sectionalized so that a5 <br />one section is being filled, another would be reclaimed. Only two sections of <br />6 acres each will be disturbed in any 1-year period at the rate of I million <br />tons production per year. As production increases, excavation would increase <br />to 24 acres per section at the rate of 4 million torts per year. <br />The ground available for water disposal is in Mancos shale a very impermeable <br />formation, and therefore no release of pollutants into the subsurface would <br />take place. Inert materials would compose 80 to 90 percent of the waste <br />deposit from the mine. The small amount of pyrite and soluble salts would be <br />neutralized in time by the basic Mancos shale. <br />There is a possibility that much of the mining waste could be returned <br />underground eliminating the need for surface disposal. The underground <br />disposal would be done in the room and pillar areas. Tests will be conducted <br />to determine if this is technically and economically feasible. Until this is <br />determined, there is sufficient waste disposal area on public land in the <br />surface facilities area. <br />2-13 <br />