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<br />August 1999 Appendix G Page G-7 <br />APPENDIX G <br />HISTORICAL COAL MINING ACTIVITY <br />Coal was discovered in the North Fork of the Gunnison River valley in the early 1880s. <br />Commercial coal mining on a large scale in the region began near Somerset at the Utah Fuel <br />Corporation Somerset Mine in 1903. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad <br />constructed a railroad to service this Utah Fuel operation. The area around Somerset became <br />one of Colorado's most important coal producing regions on the western slope. The location of <br />the historic mining operations and the extent of their coal extraction is shown on Figure 3, <br />Historic Coal Mines and Federal Coal Lease Locations, found in the attached volume of EIS <br />figures. <br />For the past 100 years, numerous coal mining operations have been developed and operated in <br />the valley. Some operations were small, operating only during the winter, with miners working <br />the orchards during the summer. Other operations were large, on a relative scale for their day. <br />Utah Fuel Corporation (later U.S. Steel) shipped their coal to Utah for use as coke in the steel <br />making process in steel mills. Other coal produced from the mines in the region was used for <br />domestic heating in local western slope towns and communities. Still, other coal production has <br />been shipped to electric utilities, cement plants, and miscellaneous industrial users. <br />The steady expansion of population in the Somerset and Paonia area because of the coal <br />mining activities also created a local market for agricuRural products. Also the railroad, <br />constructed to ship coal, brought ranchers and farmers into contact with distant markets. Along <br />with coal mining, the main economic base of the area during the century has been ranching and <br />farming. <br />Coal mining in the valley always has been influenced by markets and coal prices. In the 1980s, <br />cpal prices showed weakness and many of the mines closed or curtailed operations. In recent <br />years, although coal prices remain relatively low, there has been increased interest in the coal <br />in the North Fork of the Gunnison River valley as a "clean-compliance" coal for electric power <br />generation. This use is attributed to its high BTU and low sulphur content. <br />This appendix provides an overview of historic mining operations located in the North Fork of <br />the Gunnison River valley. Most of the information on these mines was obtained from the files <br />of the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology. <br />Bear No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 Mines <br />Tony Bear opened the Bear No. 1 Mine in 1932. The Bear No. 1 Mine is located in the SW'/., <br />SE'/., Section 9, T13S, R90W. The Bear No. 2 portals were opened approximately 1,000 feet <br />west of the Bear No. 1 portal. The Bear No. 1 and No. 2 Mines operated in the B and C seams, <br />and from 1932 until their closure in 1980, these operations produced a total of 3,814,164 tons <br />or an average of 100,374 tons per year. Coal production from the Bear No. 1 and No. 2 Mines <br />varied from early pick and shovel operations with a production of only 1,283 tons in 1932 to a <br />high production output of 250,152 tons in 1979. <br />Using continuous room and pillar mining techniques, from 1968 to 1980, the Bear No. 1 and No. <br />2 Mines produced 2,188,873 tons of coal, or an average of 182,406 tons. In 1981, the portals <br />North Fork Coal • Draft Environmental Impact Statement <br />