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PQpQ-4 BTU EMPIRE CORPORATION February 28, 2005 ~~~0=~~ ~~ Janet Binns -Environmental Protection Specialist h1bR 0 9 2005 Division of Minerals and Geology Division of Minerals and Geology 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Denver, Colorado 80203 (303) 866-3567 701 Markel Street Suite 733 St. Louis, Missouri 63101-1826 314.342.3400 RE: BTU Empire Corp., Eagle Mines (Permit No. C-81-044) -Permit Renewal (RN-04), Request for Extension of Decision Date Dear Ms. Binns: With this letter, we are requesting that the decision date for the pending Permit Renewal (RN-04) for BTU Empire Corporation's (Empire) Eagle Mines be further extended to May 1, 2005. While Empire had hoped to resolve the outstanding mutual access and right-of--entry issues for the Barker lands through mutual discussion and negotiation, this approach has been unsuccessful and Empire has found it necessary to file suit in District Court to confirm its right-of--entry to perform reclamation maintenance and monitoring. On behalf of Empire, Holland & Hart, LLC filed suit on August 18, 2004. Per the terms of the initial extension agreement (refer to Empire letter dated August 8, 2004), Empire has diligently pursued resolution through legal process, has provided the CDMG with monthly status reports summarizing the relevant court proceedings, and has provided copies of all relevant court filings. The requested extension reflects the fact that the suit is currently pending in the courts and no firm date has been set, at this time, for the court to hear arguments in the case. Given that our efforts to resolve the outstanding issues to everyone's mutual benefit have reached an impasse, Empire has proceeded with the following specific steps to address the outstanding permit right-of--entry issue: Empire has provided a copy of a property ownership map to the Bazkers, with the understanding that they will mark the access route that they are claiming as the historic right- of-entry, and return the marked map to Empire's representatives (map has not been received to date). On August 18, 2004, Holland & Hart filed a complaint, on Empire's behalf, in Moffat County District Court seeking declaratory relief recognizing Empire's right-of--entry to maintain and monitor completed reclamation on the Barker's lands. The most recent development in the ongoing legal action was a scheduling conference with the Federal Court Magistrate held on January 26, 2005. Empire filed an application on September 15, 2004 for liability release for approximately 1,065 acres of the Barker and other lands relative to the historic underground mining and related subsidence, and plans to follow the liability release with a permit boundary revision to remove those Bazker lands (which were not affected by surface disturbance activities) from the permit area. In response to preliminary review comments from the CDMG, the areas covered by the liability release application were reduced to approximately 665 acres in a response dated October 8, 2004. A liability release inspection was held on November 18, 2004.