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<br />SUMMARY
<br />The Review Process
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<br />The Golden Eagle Mine is located in Las Animas County, Colorado, approximately 20 miles west
<br />of Trinidad along State Highway 12. The Golden Eagle Mine was formerly known as the Maxwell
<br />Mine and has been in existence since 1977. The Maxwell Mine had been operated under an
<br />interim permit issued on January 25, 1978. The owners, CF&I Steel Corporation, submitted an
<br />application for a new permit on February 4, 1981, and a proposed decision was issued on
<br />December 19, 1983. Because permit rights were being transferred to Wyoming Fuel Company on
<br />January 31, 1984, the permit was issued to Wyoming Fuel Company on January 25, 1984.
<br />On April 13, 1988, the Division notified Wyoming Fuel that the five-year permit term would
<br />expire on January 24, 1989 and that the application to renew the existing permit was due by
<br />July 25, 1988. On August 2, 1988, the application was received and deemed complete by the
<br />Division. A permit renewal was issued on January 24, 1989 for another five-year period, to
<br />expire on January 25, 1994.
<br />On September 1, 1989, Wyoming Fuel Company submitted a permit revision that would add
<br />5,674 acres to the permit area. This revision opened the area north of State Highway 12 to
<br />longwall mining. It also increased the amount of Federal coal acreage from 40 acres to
<br />962 acres. The permit revision was approved on July 2, 1990. Aroom-and-pillar operation
<br />under the Purgatoire River gained access to the coal. Longwall operations were then begun north
<br />of Highway 1 2 in May of 1991 .
<br />In June 1991, KN Energy, Inc. sold the Wyoming Fuel Company to Entech, Inc., a wholly owned
<br />subsidiary of the Montana Power Company. 1n April 1992, Entech, Inc. idled the Golden Eagle
<br />Mine. Since that time, mining has been sporadic. The operator has signed a 10- to 15-year
<br />contract for 1.2 million tons/year. Coal is currently being stockpiled at the New Elk Mine facility,
<br />five miles west of the Golden Eagle Mine.
<br />In May 1992, Wyoming Fuel Company changed its name to Basin Resources, Inc. In October of
<br />1992, the Division found the application for Succession of Operator to be complete. The decision
<br />for this name change was approved on March 29, 1993.
<br />On April 19, 1993, the Division sent a letter to Basin Resources, pursuant to Rule 2.08.5,
<br />notifying the operator that the permit expiration date was January 25, 1994. In the same letter,
<br />the Division also notified the operator that a complete permit renewal submittal must be received
<br />at the Division's office by July 29, 1993 in order to secure the right to successive renewal.
<br />However, the Division received the permit renewal submittal on September 1 , 1993. Therefore,
<br />the operator forfeited the right to successive renewal.
<br />The permit renewal submittal was deemed complete on September 7, 1993. The Division sent
<br />adequacy letters on November 5, 1993, December 6, 1993, January 6, 1994, January 10, 1994,
<br />and January 19, 1994. The operator's responses were received at the Division's office on
<br />December 30, 1993, January 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, and 18, 1994.
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