GENERAL46608 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The Bowie No. 2 Mine permit and adjacent azea includes a mix of land uses. The lower elevation areas are used for pasture, orchards, residential and industrial uses. Agricultural uses are served by irrigation water. The higher elevations within and adjacent to the permit area support some rangeland use, and the areas offer abundant wildlife habitat. The (ands also support various recreational uses. Historic and current mining operations also exist in the general area. The Bowie No. 1 Mine is located west of the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit azea. The Terror Creek Loadout is located to the south of the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit area. The reclaimed new Blue Ribbon Mine is also located nearby along Hubbard Creek, as are outlying facilities associated with the Sanborn Creek Mine. Historic coal mines located within and adjacent to the Bowie No. 2 permit boundary include the King Mine, the Gelwick Mine, the old Blue Ribbon Mine and the Fanners' Mine. The old townsite of Bowie is located within the Bowie No. 2 permit area. There are no known cultural resources in the areas to be disturbed under Pennit Revision No. 5. As requested by the Colorado Historical Society, BRL has committed to stop construction and evaluate the situation appropriately, in consultation with the Colorado Historical Society, if previously unknown cultural resources should be discovered. Geology - Detailed information regarding the geology in and adjacent to the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit area is provided in Sections ?.04.5 and 2.04.6 of [he permit application document. A brief summary is provided below, and this summary is derived from the information presented within Sections 2.04.5 and 2.04.6 of the permit application. The Bowie No. 2 Mine pennit area is located in the North Fork Valley of the Gunnison River, near the western margin of the Colorado portion of [he Central Rocky Mountains. The elevation of the permit azea ranges from about 6,000 feet above sea level to over 8,000 feet above sea level. The general area is situated along the southern flank of the Piceance Creek structural and sedimentary basin. The area is bounded by Larimide structural and physiographic features on the following sides: West Elk and Elk Mountains on the east; the Gunnison Uplift on the south; the Uncompahgre Uplift on [he west-southwest; and the Grand Mesa-Piceance Basin on the north. The geologic structure of the permit area exhibits an attitude of N66'W, with a 3to 5-degree dip to the northeast. There is one identified fault located in the southwest corner of the permit azea. The fault trends approximately N55'W and it dips 70 to 80 degrees to the northeast. The throw of the fault ranges from 7 to 30 feet, with the downside located on the south side of the fault. The coal in the area is situated within Mesaverde formation which contains interbedded sandstones, tnudstones, shales, siltones and coal beds. The Mesaverde formation lies upon the Rollins Sandstone Member of the Ues formation and below the Wasatch formation. The coal beazing member of the Mesaverde formation locally contains up to nine (9) coal seams. These seams are located within a stratigraphic interval of approximately 500 to 600 feet above the Rollins Sandstone. These coal seams are, in ascending order, the A-Seam, the B- I Seam, the B-2 Seam, the C-Seam, the D-1 Seam, the D-2 Seam, the E- I Seam, the E-2 Seam and the F-Seam. 10