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displacement of 50 feet was encountered during mining. Drill hole data indicate the presence <br /> of other faults in the life-of-mine area with similar displacements. One major fault has been <br /> encountered in the Somerset Mine. The faults which have been encountered in existing <br /> mines tend to be high angle, normal faults. <br /> Climatological Information - Rules 2.4.8 <br /> Information regarding climate characteristics can be found in Section 2.04.3 and 2.04.8 of <br /> West Elk's permit application. <br /> The mine site lies within the North Fork valley near Somerset, Colorado. At the mine site <br /> the valley is narrow and steep sided and follows a general east-west orientation. <br /> Considerable topographic variation across the mine site, and west central Colorado in <br /> general, results in marked fluctuation in seasonal and average precipitation and temperature <br /> values for the entire area. <br /> The mountains of the Continental Divide provide an effective barrier to the movement of <br /> moisture-laden air that reaches the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains from the Gulf of <br /> Mexico. Under this influence, two basic types of climate, semi-arid and undifferentiated <br /> highlands, are characteristic of the general area where the mine is situated. Temperatures <br /> can range below freezing in the winter, and the summer, with the exception of higher <br /> elevations, can be extremely warm. The precipitation that does fall, originates from the <br /> Pacific Ocean weather systems, and most frequently occurs in the winter. <br /> Average annual precipitation ranges from approximately ten inches along the North Fork of <br /> the Gunnison River and the bower portion of Minnesota Creek to as much as 24 inches on the <br /> flanks of Mount Gunnison. The majority of precipitation falls as snow during the winter <br /> months, while the sparse summer precipitation consists of isolated thunderstorms. <br /> Soils - Rule 2.04.9 <br /> Soil Resource Information can be found in Section 2.04.9 in the permit application. More <br /> specific information relating to soil mapping units can be found in Exhibit 27, Exhibit 28, <br /> Exhibit 29, Exhibit 30, and on Maps 40 and 41. <br /> Soils of the West Elk Mine were mapped during the summer of 1976. Throughout the soil <br /> survey, "mapping units" were used to characterize the soils in the mine area. These survey <br /> mapping units are combinations of Soil Families or selected Great Groups and Subgroups <br /> according to the system of soil taxonomy used in the National Soil Survey Program of the <br /> United States. During the summer of 1993 the soils of the Jumbo Mountain Tract were <br /> mapped following criteria and descriptions contained in the Soil Conservation Service soil <br /> survey of the Paonia, Colorado area (USDA-SCS, 1993). Additional mapping and survey <br /> work was performed and submitted with the Apache Rocks Permit Revision. Any <br /> discrepancies in soil mapping units can be attributed to the change in soil classification <br /> during the time between the mapping efforts. The survey is a general reconnaissance and the <br /> mapping units are broad in Concept. <br /> 10 <br />