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Section I - Comments The Roadside and Cameo Mining Operation was granted a five year mining and reclamation permit under the permanent regulatory program on January 3, 1983. Renewal of this permit occurred January 3, 1988. On October 28, 1986, Powderhorn Coal Company, operator of the mines, notified the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation (CMLRD) of the temporary cessation of its operations. The mine continued under temporary cessation until May 1, 1989 at which time active operations were resumed in the Roadside Mine. At the time of this review, only the Roadside Mine is active. Resumption of mining at the Cameo site has not occurred. As indicated in correspondence from the operator to idLRO,' the Roadside Mine is currently supplying a contact calling for 140,000 to 1,700,000 tons of coal per year. Roam and pillar methods are being employed in the mining. Disposal of coal processing waste is currently occurring at the Cameo Refuse Disposal Area No. 2. The operator has committed not to dispose of refuse at Cameo Refuse Area #1 until questions regarding the pile's stability have been resolved. Cameo Refuse Area ~3 has been approved for the operation. Stipulation No. 07 to the permit renewal, however, requires the operator to file an additional performance bond in the amount of 5760,000 at least 60 days prior to initiating any disturbance associated with the construction of CRDA #3. At this time, such bond has not been supplied. The initial refuse pile for the mining operation, identified as the Roadside Refuse Pile, was completed in 1984. The pile has been covered, topsoiled, and seeded. The operator has undertaken a series of revegetation field trials on the Roadside Pile to determine if less than 4 feet non-toxic, non-combustible cover will be sufficient to achieve successful revegetation and minimize the disturbance of the hydrobalance. A decision on the success or failure of the field trials had not been made at the time of this review. At present, the disturbed area of the permit is estimated at 304 acres, the affected area 2,680 acres, and the permit area 10,040 acres. Since the permit was renewed January 3, 1988, only two minor revisions have been processed by the Division. The nature and status of these are summarized in Section II of this review. The reclamation bond was thoroughly reviewed utilizing CAT773 trucks and CAT988B loaders to transport the bulk of material in the RDA's. The savings utilizing this method offset other rising costs so the net increase in estimated cost was 55,000 which brought total liability to 52,453,700. The reclamation bond now on file for the mine is 52,500,000. The details of the review of the reclamation bond are available from the Division upon request. All stipulations to the renewal of the permit have been reviewed. The status of these is presented in Section III of this review. Section I'/ outlines specific items and areas within the permit application package (other than those already noted in Sections II and III) which are of concern to the Division and require updating or revision. -2 -