Laserfiche WebLink
• <br />C~ <br />greater resistance to the plan. In any case, the cost to <br />develop infrastructure and transport coal may cause the remain- <br />ing coal in the Lease to be uneconomical to mine, and, there- <br />fore, the coal may be permanently lost as a resource. <br />Clearly, Powderhorn has and controls the best access to <br />the Lease and may functionally control the only access to the <br />Lease. Powderhorn also has all of the infrastructure in place <br />which is required to mine, clean, load and ship the coal. <br />Because of its existing infrastructure, when the coal market <br />improves, Powderhorn is more likely to mine coal and mine it <br />sooner from the Lease than any other company. <br />The best and possibly the only way for Powderhorn to <br />maintain its rights under the Lease for an extended period of <br />time and, thus conserve the coal, is for the BLM to grant <br />suspension of operations and production in the interest of <br />conservation under Section 39 of the MLA, its related regula- <br />tions as found in 43 C.F.R. 3473 and 3488.3, and the final Coal <br />and Solids Minerals Suspension Guidelines, which were released <br />on June 15, 1987. Otherwise, Powderhorn could be faced with <br />the unpleasant and distasteful alternative of relinquishing the <br />Lease, which likely would result in the permanent loss and <br />waste of the mineral resource, <br />In this case, the primary, but not exclusive, benefit of <br />the Lease suspension is the suspension of the requirement to <br />pay advance royalties in lieu of production. This benefit is <br />very important since Powderhorn views the requirement to pay <br />- 6 - <br />