PERMFILE60338

• Permit No: C1981022
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 12/11/2001
• Section_Exhibit Name: EXHIBIT 2.04-E1 LAND USE AND EXISTING CONDITIONS
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Page G-4 Historical Coal Mining Activity August 1999
Hawk's Nest Mine
The Hawk's Nest Mine underwent an interesting evolution of operations. The first extraction of
• federal coal lands was by a group of ranchers for their own use in the early 1900s. They used a
portal located in the NW'/z, SW'/<, Section 12, T13S, R90W.
A small extraction of coal for ranching use went on until October 1922, when the Champion
Coal Company was formed to expand the original ranchers' operation in the E seam using room
and pillar mining methods. This expanded operation became known as the Hawk's Nest Mine.
The existing mine was subleased in 1932 by Mr. Clement Audin who continued to work the
mine, purchasing the lease in 1938 and subsequently purchasing Champion Coal Company in
1942.
A second portal designated as the Hawk's Nest No. 2 Mine was developed in 1946 in the NW'/.,
SE'/., Section 11, T13S, R90W, in an area where roof coniiitions were better. The old portal
and mine area, subsequently designated as the Hawk's Nest No. 1 Mine, were closed in 1947.
In 1953, Mr. Ellis Axelson opened a new mine, the Black Beauty Mine, from a portal at the E
seam outcrop located in the NEY<, SE'/., Section 10, T13S, R90W. A second portal, the East
Oliver portal and the associated Oliver Mine were subsequently developed approximately 1,000
feet to the west of the original portal. The Oliver Mine extracted coal from both the D and E
coal seams.
Western Slope Carbon, Inc. was incorporated in 1970. The corporation purchased the Hawk's
Nest No. 1 and No. 2 Mines from the Audin family and the Black Beauty Mine from Mr. Axelson.
• The Black Beauty Mine was then renamed Hawk's Nest No. 3. The Hawk's Nest No. 1 was
closed in 1947 by the Audin family, and the Hawk's Nest No. 2 Mine was closed in 1970 due to
insufficient capital. Western Slope Carbon, Inc. then renovated the Hawk's Nest No. 3 Mine. A
bleeder portal was developed for ventilation.
In December 1974, Western Slope Carbon, Inc. was acquired as a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Northwest Energy Company. The Hawk's Nest No. 2 portal was re-designated as the East
portal, and all surface facilities were replaced and the underground workings were rehabilitated.
In the fall of 1980, a portion of the Hawk's Nest Mine was converted from conventional room
and pillar mining to the first longwall operation in the North Fork of the Gunnison River valley.
The Hawk's Nest No. 3 portal was re-designated as the West portal, and underwent significant
surface and underground renovation.
From 1966 through 1970, the Hawk's Nest mining complex produced approximately 174,144
tons of coal from the E seam, or an average of approximately 43,536 tons per year. From the
period 1970 through 1983, the Hawk's Nest No. 3 Mine produced 2,623,600 tons from the E
seam, or approximately 201,815 tons per year. When the Hawk's Nest No. 2 Mine was
reopened and operated from 1976 through 1980, approximately 1,321,017 tons were removed
from the E seam, or an average of approximately 330,254 tons per year. The idled property
was purchased in the late 1980s and was to be operated as the Blue Horizon Coal Company,
but never came to be.
•
North Fork Coal • Draft Environmental lmpacf Statement