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• Section 2.04.3 <br />Site Description and Land Use Information <br />Pre-Mining and Existing Land Use at the New Horizon Mine <br />General <br />Historical land use in and around the New Horizon Mine has been predominantly related to <br />agriculture. The white man actively began settling the area in the last 1890's, establishing livestock <br />operations to take advantage of the large grazeable tracts of native rangeland. Around 1900, the <br />town of Nucla was established and became a center of agricultural activity with the completion of <br />the Colorado Cooperative Irrigation Ditch in 1910. The completion of the ditch and the delivery of <br />San Miguel River water to the First and Second Park areas surrounding Nucla provided a means <br />for viable agricultural production in an area with a near desert climatic regime. The extensive <br />surrounding lands which remained in native rangeland continued to be used for livestock production <br />and hunting of wildlife, primarily big game. <br />• In 1898, the uranium bearing ore carnotite was discovered in the area and uranium mining began <br />its roller coaster ride to importance as a major industry in the area. When mining of carnotite <br />declined after 1923, the mining of vanadium for steel alloys became an important industry through <br />World War II. Also during World War II, uranium mining began gaining importance again and <br />boomed in the 50's 60's and 70's as nuclear power and weapons' demands increased. The early <br />80's saw a decline in the uranium mining and processing industries, with activity virtually at a <br />standstill by 1986. <br />The mining of coal had been ongoing on a small scale from the early to mid 1900's. These mining <br />operations were small underground operations generally run by individuals. The present New <br />Horizon surface coal mine, the largest coal operation in the area, was initially opened north of the <br />main permit area (in the vicinity of the NH 1 area) in 1958 by the Edna Coal Company as the Navajo <br />Mine. In September of 1963, Peabody Coal Company (PCC) purchased the mine, renamed it the <br />Nucla Mine and operated it until temporary cessation of activities in 1983, when the Naturita Power <br />Plant was deactivated. The mine was placed into inactive status in 1988. The power plant at <br />Naturita was then reconstructed as a recirculating fluidized bed type power plant to test this type <br />of new boilertechnology. Associated with the power plant reconstruction, Western Fuels-Colorado <br />(WFC), a Limited Liability Company (WFC), purchased the Nucla Mine in 1992 (Permit C-81-008) <br />• and renamed it the New Horizon Mine. The New Horizon Mine is located on the NH2 Permit Area, <br />(Revised 2s,miyos) 2.04.3-3 <br />