Laserfiche WebLink
-5- <br />Description of the Environment (con't) <br />The loadout lies at an elevation of approximately 6400 ft. on the bottomland <br />of an alluvial valley. The area to be permitted is 134 acres which includes <br />the railroad loop. Land use surrounding the loadout is primarily agriculture <br />and grazing. The valley contains the Dry Creek drainage, an ephermeral <br />stream, which is a tributary of the perennial Yampa River. <br />Description of the Operations and Reclamation Plan <br />~3y~ <br />Of the 1272._a_c_~e~ to be permitted by HG Coal Company 517 acres will be <br />disturbed by the operation. Approximately 280-290 acres of this disturbance <br />has already occured and 86 acres have been backfilled, graded and revegetated. <br />Coal will be removed at the rate of 1,000,000 tons per year. The total <br />production of coal for the life of the mine is estimated at 6,750,000 tons. <br />The projected life of the mine is eight years. <br />The coal will be removed using an area strip mining method allowing for <br />multiple seam removal. The five coal seams are mined on separate benches <br />such that more than one seam can be mined at a time. During the life of the <br />mine the high wall will advance toward the east and south. <br />In advance of the operation, vegetation will be cleared and topsoil will be <br />salvaged. Topsoil is stockpiled from the initial cut only. Succeeding <br />cuts are removed in advance of the highwall and immediately spread on areas <br />which are already backfilled and graded. Topsoil stockpiles are seeded for <br />protection and stabilization. <br />Overburden is removed by breaking and hauling material from the pit. Because <br />the breaking process results in angular fragments of rock, it is impossible <br />to restore the material to its original laminar nature. The volume of material <br />to be replaced therefore, exceeds the volume of material in its original <br />state. The effect is that there will be a greater volume of material to be <br />replaced than there is available space in the pit. This overburden situation <br />necessitates the development of an excess spoil pile. The excess spoil pile <br />will be graded, topsoiled and reclaimed. The rest of the overburden removed <br />will be backfilled directly into the pit. <br />Reclamation will proceed contemporaneously with mining. Backfilled areas will <br />be graded, topsoiled and seeded. Vegetation characteristics will be monitored <br />until the post-mining conditions are approximately equal to adjacent areas <br />of comparable vegetation. The final reclaimed surface will blend in with the <br />surrounding undisturbed areas. <br />The loadout area is approximately 10 miles north of the mine along County Road 53. <br />Coal is trucked from the mine along County Road 53 to the tipple. At the tipple <br />the coal is dumped into a crusher, conveyed to a stockpile and then loaded <br />onto trains. <br /> <br />