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• General <br />Seneca Coal Company has previously auger mined at the Seneca II Mine back in the mid• to late 1980's. <br />We are now proposing to auger mine the existing and future final pit highwalls at Seneca II-W as shown <br />on Exhibit 12-3. Recovery of these existing coal reserves would otherwise be lost since we are at the <br />economic recovery limit of our stripping equipment. The proposed operations involve auger mining only <br />the Wadge coal seam. <br />Current Status <br />Augering operations commenced as anticipated, however the operation experienced an unacceptably low <br />recovery rate due to a-variety of factors including poor machine performance, shallow penetration depth, <br />and unforeseen highwall conditions. Therefore, operations were suspended in 2001 prior to completion. <br />The total extent of auger mining conducted at Seneca II-W was confined to the "A° Pit and is shown on <br />Exhibit 12-3, Operations Plan (combined Mine Plan) submitted for PR04 102104). <br />Per regulation 4.23.2111, any auger mining associated with surface mining activities shall be conducted to <br />maximize recoverability of the coal reserves remaining after the mining activities are completed. <br />Therefore, auger mining operations shall leave areas of undisturbed coal to provide access for removal of <br />those reserves by future underground mining activities. These undisturbed areas of coal shall be a <br />minimum of 250 feet wide at any point between each group of auger openings to the full depth of the <br />auger hole. They also are to be no mare than 2,500 feet apart, measured from the center of one section <br />to the center of the next section. As shown on Exhibit 12-3, we are proposing to leave five of these <br />250-foot 6arrier~pillars. SCC is requesting a variance on the 2,500-foot spacing requirement. The <br />proposed barrier pillar locations were chosen because these areas are mainly in the deepest overburden <br />locations along the final highwall. These pillar locations were agreed upon by SCC and the Mine Safety & <br />Health Administration (MSHA) following the initial review of our MSHA Ground Control Plan -Revised <br />Auger Mining Addendum. SCC and Peabody Holding Company, Inc, have looked at underground mining <br />at the Seneca II-W Mine and the entire surrounding area and have determined that this proposed auger <br />area would not be an ideal location for a portal. There are several other sites that would be better suited <br />for potential portal locations. <br />Rule 4.23.2(2) is being complied with already, since there are no abandoned or active underground <br />workings within 500 feet of the proposed auger operations. <br />• <br />In the interest of contemporaneous reclamation for 4,23.2131, augering will be completed as soon as <br />possible after the surface coal has been removed. The augering operations will be following the dragline <br />PR04 12-2-1 Revised 04!04 <br />