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~ ~~I II~II~II~~~~~ ~~~ 999 STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman 51., Room 215 Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone: 1303) 8663567 FAX (303) 832-8106 December 19, 1994 Mr. Phil Schmidt Mountain Coal Company West Elk Mine PO Box 591 Somerset, CO 81434 RE: Mountain Coal Company, NOV No. C-94-033 Dear Mr. Schmidt: ~~ I~~~ DEPARTME[JT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Roy Ramer Governor lames 5. Lochhead Eaecuuve Director Michael B. Long Division Director We have reviewed the information submitted in your November 29, 19941etter concerning NOV No. C-94-033. Based on all the information available to me I must respectfully decline to vacate this Notice of Violation for the reasons following. In your November 4, 1994 letter to Christine Johnston you indicate that surveying had demonstrated that your projected permit .boundary was different from the "tnle permit boundary". Further you state that as a result of this newly discovered difference, Mountain Coal Company (MCC) had inadvertently mined beyond the perrrrit boundary. You indicated to us in phone conversations that you were confident in the accuracy of your surveys which indicated this excursion beyond the permit boundary. This letter continues by indicating that MCC had projected the location of the S 1/4 corner of Section 19 by digitizing the southern line of the section then fmding the mid-point of that line. In the letter MCC agrees that a line drawn on a map may be in error and may agree that boundaries depicted on maps should be considered general representations, [o be verified by on the ground surveys and monuments. Your subsequent letter, dated November 29, 1994, indicates, however, that the permit area as depicted on Map 1 encompasses half of Section 19 on the map and therefore the boundary bisects the mid-point drawn on the map. Accordingly, you assert that the permit boundary does not have a relationship to the brass cap marker on the ground. These assertions bring you to the conclusion that Mountain Coal Company mined beyond the lease boundary and the brass cap marker but not, in fact, beyond the permit boundary. To assist in our review of this situation we enlisted the help of a mineral geologist in the Colorado Geological Survey, an objective landman with a legal background, the Assistant Attorney General, as well as my staff.