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transferred from CF&I Steel Corporation to Wyoming Fuel Company on January 31, <br />1984. Permit rights were transferred from Wyoming Fuel Company to Basin <br />Resources, Inc. (BRI) on March 29, 1993. Finally, permit rights were transferred from <br />BRI to Picketwire Processing, LLC on April 27, 1997. An application for transfer of the <br />permit from Picketwire Processing, LLC to New Elk Coal Company, LLC was received <br />by the Division on February 9, 2006 but no decision has been rendered on this transfer <br />at the time of the writing of this mid-term review. <br />Description of the Environment <br />The mine site is located in a plateau area. The elevation of the surface facilities range <br />from 7,400 to 7,800 feet. Land use in the area consists of cropland, rangeland, <br />pastureland, and wildlife habitat. Livestock grazing and hay production on irrigated <br />lands are the main agricultural practices conducted in the general area. A variety of <br />large and small mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles are permanent or <br />temporary residents of the area. <br />The New Elk Mine is located in the western limb of the Raton Basin. The Raton Basin <br />is a broad, asymmetric syncline whose axis trends north-south. Past mining at the New <br />Elk mine was entirely within the Allen seam, stratigraphically located in the Raton <br />Formation. The Poison Canyon Formation uncomformably overlies the Raton <br />Formation. The Poison Canyon Formation has a thickness of approximately 200 feet <br />and occurs only as small, isolated outcrops above an elevation of 8,000 feet. <br />Unconsolidated quaternary alluvial and colluvial deposits overlie the Raton Formation in <br />the low-lying areas. <br />The rock strata dip approximately two degrees to the north-northeast. The permit area <br />contains one steep, normal fault trending east-northeast with vertical displacement less <br />than 25 feet. The Allen Seam lies from 450 to 900 feet below the surface. Immediately <br />above the coal are interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shales. Rocks of similar <br />lithology also underlie the mined coal seam. <br />The alluvium of the Middle Fork of the Purgatoire River is a significant aquifer in the <br />permit and adjacent areas. The Purgatoire River originates several miles west of the <br />mine in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. It flows into the Arkansas River near <br />Las Animas, Colorado, approximately 120 miles northeast of the mine. <br />Portions of the Apache Canyon, Pete Canyon, and Ciruela Canyon drainages are found <br />within the permit area. These basins contain intermittent and ephemeral streams that <br />flow predominantly in response to runoff from snowmelt during the spring and intense <br />rainfall during the summer. A portion of the flow in intermittent drainages is sustained <br />by groundwater discharges. Pete Canyon is tributary to the North Fork, while Apache <br />and Ciruela Canyons are tributary to the main stem of the Purgatoire River. <br />-2- <br />