|
(no coal being mined). Coal had been mined from the North Thompson Creek Mine Number 1
<br />from 1955 to 1964. The Snowmass Coal Company mined the site from 1971 to 1984. On August
<br />15, 1983, the Snowmass Coal Company was issued the permanent program Permit. This Coal
<br />Permit No. C-025-81, for the existing North Thompson Creek Mines, was subsequently
<br />renumbered to Permit No. C-81-025. Mining ceased, and reclamation of the site was initiated, in
<br />1986. The Permit was renewed every five yeazs. The Permit was transferred to MINREC, Inc. in
<br />1990. The Perrnit azea along North Thompson Creek and Middle Thompson Creek is referred to
<br />as the "mine site", and the Permit area associated with the loadout facility (west of the Roaring
<br />Fork River) is referred to as the "loadout site", in this document.
<br />The mine site is located on federal and private lands about seven miles southwest of Carbondale,
<br />within Pitkin County, Colorado. This portion of the Permit azea encompasses all or portions of
<br />Sections 21, 22, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35 T8S R89W, and Sections 2, 3, and 4 T9S R89W, 6`h PM.
<br />These sections can be located on USGS 7.5-minute Stoney Ridge topographic map quadrangle.
<br />There aze three former portal azeas associated with this Permit. They aze Portal 1, located to the
<br />south of Pitkin County Road 001 and North Thompson Creek; Porta13, located adjacent to and
<br />north of Pitkin County Road 001; and a portal located between US Forest Service Road 306 and
<br />Middle Thompson Creek. An air shaft, the Stoney Ridge air shaft, was located in the Middle
<br />Thompson Creek drainage basin to the south of Portal 1. Another airshaft site was neaz and south
<br />of Portal 1, in the North Thompson Creek drainage basin. Coal processing and other major
<br />surface facilities were located to the northeast of Portal 1 between North Thompson Creek and
<br />Pitkin County Road 001, and adjacent to, and on the north side of, Pitkin County Road 001. A
<br />coal mine waste disposal area was located to the east of the support facilities azea, south of Pitkin
<br />County Road 001, and north of North Thompson Creek. A fourth former portal area, Porta12,
<br />located on the north side of Pitkin County Road 001 between Portals 1 and 3, is not associated
<br />with this Permit. This former portal was reclaimed under the Division's Inactive Mines Program.
<br />Coal was hauled by truck from the coal processing facilities in the vicinity of Portal 1 via Pitkin
<br />County Road-001, Gazfield County Road 108, and a spar hanl road to a loadout facility.-The spur
<br />road and loadout facility, included in the Permit, aze located on private lands within Gazfield
<br />County, Colorado, northwest of Carbondale. The loadout site consists of a haul road, a truck
<br />dump azea, and a corridor in which a conveyor was used to transfer coal from the truck dump
<br />azea to a train loadout site east of the Roazing Fork River. An azea east of the Roazing Fork
<br />River, a 29-acre azea referred to as the Diamond A Pazcel, was released from the Permit in 1993.
<br />The truck dump area and conveyor corridor sites are located in all or parts of Lots 4, 5, 6 and 7,
<br />Section 29 T7S R88W. The mine haul road traverses Sections 29, 30 and 32, T7S R88W and
<br />Section 5 T8S R88W, 6`h PM. These sections can be located on the USGS 7.5-minute Cattle
<br />Creek topographic map quadrangle.
<br />The current Permit includes 1,516 acres of federal and 1,820 acres of private lands, of which
<br />3300 acres aze at the mine site and 36 acres are at the loadout. Surface lands maybe affected by
<br />surface or underground mining activities. Within the current Permit azea, 65.2 acres were
<br />disturbed by surface activities. Of these 65.2 disturbed-azea acres, 2.0 disturbed-azea acres at the
<br />SL-O5, C-81-025, March 24, 2003
<br />Page 4 of 26 Pages
<br />
|