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panel were mined north of the highway. Thirty-one mine drill holes and shafts that <br />penetrated the mine workings were converted to an industrial land use to allow for <br />methane gas extraction from the workings. This conversion allows for orderly gas <br />extraction without additional disturbance to the environment and allows development of <br />a resource that would otherwise go to waste. <br />The mine site is located in a plateau area, where elevations range from 7,000 - 7,600 <br />feet above mean sea level. Land use in the area consists of cropland and pastureland <br />on valley floors, with rangeland dominating the upland areas Recently, development of <br />ranchettes and coal bed methane extraction has become an extended use of these <br />traditionally remote areas. <br />~c ,. <br />'!7F". t r' .. ~. <br />.~. ... _s ~' - .. <br />Y JL~ <br />~• <br />aM~ <br />• =__ •~ <br />~ 1~ <br />~: ~~.~ Y :.~ ~T /~ :rt. ?ill ` '~ __ .i.,. <br />I i ~ ~ I'.. <br />The Golden Eagle Mine is located on the western limb of ttie Raton Basin The Raton <br />Basin is a broad. asymmetric syncline, the axis of which trends generally north-south. <br />All mining activities occur in the Raton Formation where the Maxwell seam is located. <br />The Poison Canyon formation unconformabty overlies the Raton Formation and has a <br />thickness of approximately 200 feet in the mine area. Unconsolidated Quaternary <br />alluvial and colluvial deposits overlie the Raton Formation in the low-lying areas. <br />The Raton Formation dips approximately two degrees east-northeast. The permit area <br />contains one steep, normal fault trending east-northeast with vertical displacement of <br />25 feet. <br />The rock strata in the region can contain groundwater, but are not a significant source <br />of water in the area of the mine. Typically bedrock groundwater ~s perched and usable <br />sources are unreliable for most uses. Igneous intrusions can cause impermeable <br />