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n av <br />a~x <br />The New Horizon Mine 2 area currently encompasses approximately 332 acres with the~eae+sc <br />approval of PR-0~ Approximately 3~ acres will be disturbed due to mining or related activities at <br />Mine 2. The majority of this findings document pertains to the Mine 2 area since the activities at <br />Mine 1 have ceased with the exception of water monitoring. <br />The topography is gently sloping with a few small ridges and swales. Most of the land surrounding <br />the permit area is agricultural and is used primarily for irrigated and non-irrigated farmland which <br />produces alfalfa and pasture grasses. <br />Both mines are located within the southeast portion of the Colorado Plateau. The region is <br />characterized by broad, fairly smooth surfaced plateaus and mesas with gently dipping slopes <br />dissected by steep canyons. Surface elevations at the New Horizon Mine 2 area range from a high <br />of 5,760 feet (MSL) in the northeast art to a low of 5,642 feet in the southeast part along Calamity <br />Draw for a total relief of about l 18 feet. <br />Climate <br />The regional climate of the New Horizon area is typical of intermountain regions. It is characterized <br />by cold winters, hot summers, low rainfall, and short growing seasons. The mine receives <br />approximately 12 inches of precipitation in an average year. The majority of the precipitation falls <br />between October and May. <br />Regions! Geology <br />The New Horizon Mines are located near the axis of the Nucla Syncline (San Miguel Syncline), a <br />shallow, broad synclinal fold running northwesterly for 65 miles. No evidence of faults has been <br />observed in drill holes at New Horizon Mine 2 area. The Nucla Syncline is IO to 15 miles southwest <br />of the major regional geologic feature of the area, the Uncompahgre uplift. The region lies in the <br />Dolores River basin. The mines are located .two to four miles northeast of the San Miguel River. <br />Gently rolling terrain traverses the area and the mine occupies a predominantly southwestern <br />exposure. <br />The mines are located in the Nucla-Naturita coal field. The coal is found in late Cretaceous <br />sediments. The youngest Cretaceous rocks in [he area consist of Mancos shale, a dazk grey marine <br />shale, present only on isolated hilltops south of the town of Nucla. Two hundred feet of Dakota <br />sandstone outcrops extensively along the axis of the Nucla syncline. This formation consists of a <br />yellowish-gray, fissile sandstone and conglomeratic sandstone interbedded with dark grey shale and <br />coal. There are two coal seams within 100 feet of the base of the Dakota. The lower Cretaceous unit <br />in the area, the Burro Canyon Formation, is separated from the Dakota by an unconformity. The <br />Burro Canyon is comprised of white, grey and light brown sandstones and conglomerates interbedded <br />with green and purplish shales, siltstones, muds[ones and thin beds of limestone. This formation has <br />a maximum thickness of 200 feet and outcrops on rims of canyons west and northwest of the mine. <br />This formation is difficult to differentiate from the Dakota in this area and is commonly considered <br />hydrogeologically similar. The Jurassic Morrison Formation is composed of 250 feet to 600 feet of <br />varicolored siltstones and mudstones with beds of limestone and sandstone. <br />