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mine production that year was 283,211 tons. The 2000 production rate after the first quarter nidicates the total production for the mine would be about 160,000 tons/year. The ideal yearly production for NKC would be 300,000 tons per year in order to meet financial casl. floe demands for the operation. Life ofMine -The. recoverable reserves currently available to the King Coal mine operation include 1.6 M tons of federal coal ands b.3 M tons of fee coal which total about 1.9 million'tons and would provide about 6.3 yeazs of expected mine life at the 300,000 tpy production rate. Manpower -The current manpower level averages about 33 people. A recent layoffhas reduced the manpower to the lower level but this is considered to be a temporary situation, awaiting greater mazket demand for the coal and increasing the manpower level up to ~0 employees.. Coal sales for 1999 expressed as a percentage are as follows: 1. Cement Production 80% 2. Electric Utilities 11% 3. "Domestic 4% 4. Tourist Trains* 2% 5. Other 3% *As a note of interest, Natioral King Coal supplies the narrow gauge raih•oads t=purist trains) in Durango, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico. Coal produced by National ICnrg Coal is trucked to markets in New 14Lcxico,Arizona, and Colorado. This is done utilizing the services of thirty-ton trucks provided by three major and several independent operators. These trucks aze operated by a force of approximately 28 drivers. Coal is hauled traveling from County Road 120 east of the King Coal mine site and Colorado State Highway 140 south of Hay Gulch on to regional markets. The mine also supplies coal for residential heating to local customers who pick it up in their own trucks or have it delivered to their homes. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE ALTERNATIVES Alternative 1 - Proposed Acrion The proposed action is to issue gal lease COC 62920 which contains approximately 1,304.51 acres of coal bed 1 reserves. The estimated recoverable coal reserves for coal bed 1 within the lease application azea is 7.05 M tons (5,209 tons per total tract acre). This proposed lease application area would be mined as an expansion of the existing National King Coal mire. This would add about 23.E years to the life of NKC's mining operations at the projected 300K ton per yeaz.production rate. Actual years of operation could last over an extended time since coal production from the lung Coal mine logical mining unit (LMU -with fee and federal lease reserves) could be realized in coniunction with production from the East Alkali Tract at the end of the life of mine of the King Coal mine. Mining in the proposed lease application area and in the adjacent Liviu and leases could take approximately 30 years (Mine Life). The manpower requirements will remain approximately the same at 30 to 50 employees.. 4