Laserfiche WebLink
Historic Preservation Officer. That office confirmed that there aze no known resources within <br />the affected area (Exhibit A). <br />Land Use -Rule 2.04.3 <br />Land use within the proposed permit azea is pasture land. Five pastures have been affected by <br />mining. Management practices include regulated grazing and the cutting of hay. Most of the <br />proposed permit area has been affected by mining in the past, and has also been reclaimed. <br />Refer to Section B, XII of this document for additional information and specific permit <br />citations. <br />Description of the Operations and Reclamation Plan <br />There are two general azeas discussed in this permit application (C-84-062), Mine No. 3 and <br />the Middle Creek portaVpit area. Colorado Yampa Coal Company proposed to surface mine <br />the remaining coal at Mine No. 3 and reclaim the Middle Creek portaVpit azea. Surface <br />mining was conducted using the standazd azea strip mining method with front end loaders and <br />dozers performing overburden removal. The in-place tonnage of coal was about 193,000 tons <br />with an approximate 90% recovery, equal to about 174,000 tons. With a two yeaz life of <br />mine annual production was estimated to be approximately 87,000 tons/yeaz. The Wadge coal <br />seam was mined. All mining is now complete. <br />Topsoil had already been stripped and stockpiled from the proposed mine area at the time of <br />initial permit approval. As of fall 1990, all topsoil has been redistributed, except at the <br />approximately 2 acre office site. During surface mining activities CYCC proposed a <br />temporary overburden stockpile. The material originated from the first pit, and it was used to <br />backfill the final pit. The Middle Creek underground mine did not resume operations afrer it <br />closed in 1980. CYCC backfilled and graded the entire portaVpit area. <br />Surface water runoff from disturbed areas is treated by two ponds, which are now permanent <br />structures. These aze referred to as the Mine No. 3 South (M3S) and Mine No. 3 North <br />(M3N) ponds. Small area exemptions exist within the permit area and the specific locations <br />are shown on Map 4a of the permit package. <br />The permit area covers 1397 acres. Of this total, 370 acres are disturbed. There is no <br />Federal land involved with this permit application; surface ownership is private, and most of <br />the mineral ownership is private, with some state ownership. <br />Upon cessation of mining activities in 1985, all surface disturbance except the office/shop area <br />was reclaimed. All lands were graded to approximate original contour. Topsoil from existing <br />topsoil stockpiles has been redistributed over most of the disturbed area. Revegetation <br />occurred following topsoil operations. Reclamation success will be determined by statistically <br />comparing the reclaimed azeas to reference areas. <br />7 <br />