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Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Formation, which is overlain by the <br />early Tertiary Wasatch Formation and underlain by the Upper <br />Cretaceous Mancos Shale. The lease application is for the Upper <br />B seam of the Mesaverde Formation; the seam ranges in thickness <br />from 10 to 20 feet. The combined analysis of the coal seam is 7g <br />to S~ moisture, lOt to 11$ ash, 0.5g to 0.6t sulfur and 11,000 to <br />12,000 Btu~s per pound. The tract contains an estimated 26.5 <br />million tons of in-place B coal seam reserves. The total minable <br />reseYVes are approximately 19 million tons of which 10 million <br />tons are mi~e. iu~=~o-8-~ <br />Outcropping on the tract is the Mesaverde Formation and <br />Quaternary deposits. The Quaternary deposits are an unsorted <br />mixture of soil and rock formed by various mass-wasting processes <br />as landslides, earth flows, soil creep and debris avalanches. <br />They also include river deposits. and slope colluvium as well ae <br />Quaternary unconsolidated deposits derived from the Wasatch <br />Formation. <br />The coal bearing sedimentary strata of the Mesaverde Formation is <br />relatively flat lying with a regional dip of 3.5 degrees to the <br />north-northeast. Local dips of up to 7.0 degrees are also found. <br />The USGS Geologic Map C-115 shows that there may be three or four <br />faults crossing the Jumbo Mountain Tract. There is no surface <br />evidence of Paults due to the colluvial deposits and surficial <br />cover. The overburden overlying the B seam in the application <br />area ranges from zero feet at the outcrop to approximately 1,200 <br />feet. <br />The potential for the discovery of conventional resources of oil <br />and gas under the leased area is very slight. Dry wells have <br />been drilled to the Dakota Sandstone a few miles to the southwest <br />and to the northwest of the permit area. There is a possibility <br />of finding methane in the coal seams. There are no oil and gas <br />leases located on or near the application area. <br />B. Vegetation <br />The vegetation of the application lands is comprised of scrub oak <br />and sagebrush with an understory of grasses. There are stands of <br />aspen and Engelmann spruce-Douglas fir on the upper north facing <br />slopes. The grasses and mountain shrubs that have been <br />identified are western wheatgrass, Indian ricegrass,.oak brush, <br />serviceberry, chokecherry, sagebrush, mountain brome and <br />junegrass. <br />C. Land Use <br />The topography is characterized as steep north facing slopes on <br />the southeastern margin of Grand Mesa. The application lands are <br />approximately one mile south of the North Fork of the Gunnison <br />River at elevations ranging from 6,600 feet to 8,100 feet above <br />sea level. The application lands support two principal land <br />uses, wildlife use and livestock grazing. <br />There are no rights-of-way located on the application lands. <br />Page 6 <br />