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town of Florence along Fremont County Road 79. The mine site can <br />be located on the USGS 7.5 quadrangle map entitled, "ROCkvale". <br />Following is a brief description of the environment and of the <br />operations and reclamation plans. More detailed information <br />pertaining to a specific discipline, such as ground water <br />hydrology, is found in this findings document within the specific <br />discipline subsections under Section "B". <br />History <br />Extensive past mining disturbances characterize the general area of <br />the Southfield Mine. In 1860 the first coal mine was opened in the <br />northern portion of the Canon City Coal Field. Production areas <br />spread through the central area and into the southern portion of <br />the coal field in the early 1900's. Over 177 abandoned mines with <br />600 acres of existing associated surface disturbances have been <br />identified by the Mined Land Reclamation Division's Inactive Mine <br />Program. <br />Tooograohv <br />The existing environment in the general area of the Southfield Mine <br />is one of an arid, steppe highland basin. The Canon City Coal <br />Field/Basin lies in the transition zone between the foothills of <br />the wet Mountains and the eastern Colorado plains, ranging from <br />5,500 to 8,000 feet. The area can be characterized as a high <br />plains mesa dipping gently to the east-northeast. The mesa is <br />dissected by several northeast trending ephemeral drainages. To <br />the west and southwest of the mesa are the Wet Mountains, where the <br />drainages have their headwaters. The Wet Mountain chain is fronted <br />by a series of overthrust faults which results in pre-Cambrian <br />materials unconformably overlying overturned sedimentary units. <br />Erosion of the mountains has resulted in a pediment surface within <br />the basin from 0 to 100 feet thick. The action of several <br />ephemeral and some perennial streams has cut through the pediment <br />surface, exposing the coal-bearing Vermejo Formation. This easily <br />accessed coal has been extensively mined since the turn of the <br />century leaving many unreclaimed spoils and waste piles. <br />Additional information can be found in Section 2.04.3 "General Site <br />Information" of the permit application. <br />Southfield Mine Permit Renewal D3 <br />16 <br />