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• Chapter I <br />Introduction <br />A. Purpose and Need for the Action <br />On September 1, 1989, the Wyoming Fuel Company (WFC) submitted <br />a permit revision application (PR-1) for Colorado permit C-81-013 <br />to the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division (MLRD) and the <br />Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM). OSM <br />determined that the proposed operations described in the permit <br />revision application constituted a mining plan modification and <br />required the approval of the Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals <br />Management. Pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as <br />amended, Section 523 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation <br />Act of 1977, and 30 CFR 746.14, the Assistant Secretary must <br />approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the mining plan <br />modification for the mining of the coal in Federal Lease C-067. <br />B. Project Background/General Information <br />The Golden Eagle mine is located in Las Animas County, <br />approximately 27 miles west of Trinidad, Colorado. Mining <br />• operations began at this site in 1977. Coal is underground mined <br />from the Maxwell coal seam, which varies in thickness from 5.0 feet <br />to 7.0 feet. The current rate of production is 1,200,000 tons per <br />year, produced by a work-force totalling 160 employees. <br />Coal is transported from the underground mine to the surface <br />by means of a conveyor system. The coal is then loaded on trucks <br />and transported to the preparation plant at the New Elk Mine, which <br />is located approximately 3 miles west of the Golden Eagle Mine. <br />Following the processing activities the coal is then shipped from <br />that location to market by rail. <br />C. Existing/Related Environmental Documents <br />An Environmental Assessment for the Golden Eagle mine mining <br />plan approval, Technical Revision Number 08 of Colorado Permit <br />Number C-81-013, was completed by OSM in September 1988. That <br />document has been reviewed and incorporated by reference into this <br />Environmental Assessment. <br /> <br />2 <br />