Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />pond, two new topsoil stockpiles, coal stockpiles, conveyors, preparation plant and <br />thickener, and a rail car dump for raw coal unloading. At this time (February 19991 the <br />rail car dump has yet to be constructed. <br />Presently, the New Elk facility is used for processing and loadout operations only. Further <br />coal production is not planned at the New Elk mine. During active mining the workings <br />progressed mainly to the south and east. Coal was mined by both continuous miners and <br />longwall mining methods. Only one seam, the Allen seam, was mined. <br />A Refuse Disposal Area (RDA) was constructed south of Highway 12 as a valley fill. Coal <br />is not presently being processed at the New Elk mine, as it is in temporary cessation. <br />However, if the project proceeds as originally planned, coal from the Lorencito Canyon <br />mine (#C-96-084) will be shipped to the New Elk mine for processing. Refuse will be <br />generated when the coal passes through the preparation plant. It will be transported by <br />conveyor over Highway 12 and be deposited in the RDA north of the highway. Pond <br />cleaning material and small quantities of rock will not be added to the RDA but will be <br />added to the original refuse pile, now referred to as the Development Waste Pile (DWP) <br />southwest of the main mine entrance. <br />On December 30, 1993, the permittee at the time, Basin Resources, submitted a revision <br />to the New Elk mine permit to allow the disposal of coal fines in the underground <br />workings. The coal fines are generated at the coal preparation plant when it is operating. <br />The fines will be pumped as a slurry to the East Portal and then to other areas of the New <br />Elk mine workings as the mains fill. The slurry will be comprised of 34 percent solids and <br />pumped at a maximum rate of 700 gpm. The slurry will flow down dip and the coal fines <br />will gradually settle out. Transport water will be pumped out of an existing borehole at a <br />rate of 462 gallons per minute and recycled to the preparation plant. The coal fines are <br />expected to fill 70 percent of the mains upon the completion of the operation. <br />The applicant estimated that the life of the slurry operation will be 5 years at the <br />proposed deposition rate. After the operation is completed, the mine will eventually flood <br />with mine inflows. The borehole that was used to draw off the decant slurry water will <br />be monitored and will later be sealed. The borehole is located north of, and adjacent to, <br />the alluvium of the Purgatoire River. Samples of preparation plant water, which are <br />representative of the expected quality of slurry decant water, exceed receiving stream <br />standards for nitrate, ammonia, acid cadmium. Slurry water will be diluted with inflow <br />water flowing from up-dip locations. Mine inflows from down-dip locations and under the <br />Purgatoire River will pass through the settled fines and are expected to be similar in <br />quality of the slurry decant water. This water is not planned to be discharged to the <br />Purgatoire River. The statement of probable hydrologic consequences for the mine begins <br />on page 2.05-58 of the permit application. <br />In the unlikely event that discharge from flooding does occur, it will be from the East <br />Portal, located 42 feet in elevation above the river. Other drillholes and mine openings <br />lower in elevation than the East Portal will be sealed. In the past, mine inflows have been <br />measured underground at a rate of 120 gpm. Mine inflows are expected to decrease as <br />8 <br />