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discontinued, until market conditions improve so that this seam can be <br /> economically mined. <br /> The E seam will be the next and last seam that will be mined. The E seam lies <br /> approximately 180 to 200 feet below the F seam interval. No mining in E seam <br /> is planned during this permit term. <br /> Mountain Coal Company plans to mine coal in the minable seams in ascending <br /> sequence. This sequence was chosen because of an expected seven percent <br /> improvement in the B seam resource recovery and better ground conditions. <br /> There are an estimated 106.80 million tons of recoverable reserves in the <br /> three minable seams. Life of mine is expected to be 40 years. The percent of <br /> recovery in the mains and submains is approximately 30 percent. The overall <br /> recovery in the mains and submains will increase to the extent that the <br /> pillars can be extracted upon retreat. Panel extraction will range up to <br /> 67 percent where pillars are recovered. The percent recovery in the <br /> production panels depends on physical conditions and the mining methods <br /> selected. Using room and pillar methods, it is expected that 50 percent of <br /> the coal reserves will be recovered from the F and B seams. With longwall <br /> mining, about 70 percent of the coal reserves in the B seam will he recovered. <br /> No major buildings, major structures, occupied dwellings, cemeteries, parks, <br /> railroads or highways overlay the coal to be mined. Two reservoirs lie close <br /> to the F seam outcrop; however, neither is directly over the coal to be mined. <br /> Ventilation in the mine is provided by two fans. One is located in Sylvester <br /> Gulch and the other in Lone Pine Gulch. Power to the mine is supplied via <br /> existing lines of the Delta-Montrose Electric Association. At substations <br /> located in the main mine facilities area and in Lone Pine Gulch, the power is <br /> stepped down to serve the underground mine and to serve the surface <br /> facilities. <br /> Explosives at the mine are only occasionally used for underground construction <br /> purposep. Very little explosives are required for this purpose. West Elk <br /> does have an explosives magazine located on site. <br /> The West Elk Mine portals are situated at an approximate elevation of <br /> 6,450 feet. Run-of-mine coal is transported from the production panels to the <br /> various surface facilities by a system of belt conveyors. A conveyor carries <br /> coal from inside the mine portal to the stacking tubes. From the stacking <br /> tubes, an underground conveyor reclaim system will transport the coal to the <br /> two crushers. A conveyor then moves the coal from the crushers to the two <br /> storage silos. A stacktube located to the east of the silos provides <br /> additional storage for product coal. A loadout conveyor carries coal from the <br /> storage silos to the over-the-track loadout. A portion of this conveyor is <br /> completely enclosed as it crosses the North Fork of the Gunnison River and <br /> Highway 133. Coal is primarily shipped from the West Elk Mine by rail; <br /> however, some coal is trucked from the mine or transferred to various handling <br /> or stockpile facilities on the mine site. <br /> Refuse at the mine is generated during underground construction activities and <br /> mining. Other sources of refuse material are contaminated coal spillage, <br /> sediment pond dredgings, and soils contaminated with non-hazardous materials. <br /> These other sources of refuse only make up a small amount of the refuse <br /> produced at the mine. Refuse is currently being disposed onto a permanent <br /> refuse pile called the Lower Refuse Disposal Area. An Upper Refuse Disposal <br /> Area has also been approved for construction, and has not been built. Before <br /> the pile can be constructed, MCC must address a number of stipulations. <br /> State Highway 133 provides the main access to the West Elk Mine. A haul road <br /> joins the highway east of the lower refuse pile and serves as the access to <br /> all facilities except the silo storage area. An old haul road accesses this <br /> area and other lower mine facilities, which is now considered an access road. <br /> Other access roads include the middle-mine facilities road and the Sylvester <br /> Gulch fan road. The Lone Pine Gulch road has been designated as a light-use <br /> road and provides access to a ventilation fan. <br /> 11 <br />