USGS Quadrangle maps of Milner and Rattlesnake Butte cover [he majority of the permit area. Disturbed
<br />areas of the mine include the main surface facilities area along Foidel Creek and numerous smaller outlyine
<br />facilities. These mine-related facilities result in 460 total disturbed acres. The main mine facilities lie in
<br />Sections 29.31, 32, T7N, R86W of the 6th Principle Meridian and are located in, and adjacent to, a strip pit
<br />excavated originally by Colorado Yampa Coal Company s (CYCC) surface mining operation (No. C-81-071).
<br />Other facilities currently within [he permit area, but separate from the main portal facility area, include the Fish
<br />Creek Borehole (FCB) facility, the Southwest ventilation facility (SW vent}, the Eastern Ivtining District
<br />ventilation facility (EMD vent), the Eastern Mining District dewatering facility (EMD borehole), the
<br />Sandstones substation and North Escape Shaft, the Fish Creek Tipple (FCT) facility and the Eastern Mining
<br />District grout hole pad.
<br />The Fish Creek Borehole (FCB) is located on Fish Creek approximately 2 miles northwest of the main facility
<br />area in Section 25, TSN R87W. It consists of 2 dewatering boreholes, an inactive ventilation shaft, 3 treatment
<br />ponds, associated roads, a substation, a utility building, and water treatment equipment. The SW vent was
<br />reclaimed in 1996 and is located in Section 36, TSN R87W. The EMD vent facility is located in Section 14,
<br />TSN R86W and consisu of two ventilation shafts (intake air and return air), intake air heating unit, associated
<br />buildings, powerlines, and fuel tank. The EMD borehole disturbed area is located in Section 21, TSN R86W
<br />and consists of a small pump building, a buried water return line and topsoil stockpiles. The Sandstones
<br />substation in Section 20, TSN R86W no longer serves as a power drop to the mine. The nearby North Escape
<br />Shaft has no facilities but exists as a completed 3 foot diameter shafr to be used only-as an underground
<br />emergency extraction pointfor miners.
<br />The Fish Creek Tipple (FCT) facility is located approximately 5 miles northeast of the main portal area in
<br />Section 2, TSN R86W, about 7 miles downstream on Fish Creek from the FCB facility. It was originally
<br />permitted sepazately under permit No. C-81-036 but since has been incorporated into the Foidel Creek permit
<br />No. C-82-056. It consists of a rail loadout, crushing and screening equipment, conveyors, stockpile areas, and
<br />a sediment control system of ditches and one pond. The FCT facility has been idle since Energy Mine No. 3
<br />(No. C-84-062) completed mining in 1986, and is currently inactive as of the writing of this document in April
<br />2000.
<br />Locally significant are the rock units of Twentymile Pazk Basin which dip So - 30o toward the central portion of the
<br />basin. Notmal faulting has been identified throughout the permit area, striking generally northwest to southeast,
<br />with displacement of zero to 85 feet. A reverse fault running in an arcuate line northward through the west central
<br />part of the basin shows displacement of 0-80 feet. Smaller lateral faults were encountered in the 9R and lOR
<br />gateroads while driving development out into the Eastern Mining District.
<br />The near-surface bedrock units are composed of sedimentary rocks of marine and non-marine origin. These
<br />sedimentary rocks were formed through the transgression and regression of an epicontinental sea and are comprised
<br />of sequences of sandstones, siltstones, shales and coal. Four geologic formations exist in the vicinity of the Eastern
<br />Mining District. They are, in ascending order, the Mancos Shale, the Iles and Williams Fork Formation of the
<br />Mesaverde Group, and the Lewis Shale. These strata were all deposited during the late Cretaceous Period.
<br />Generally, the strata dip to the center of the basin at about 7~.
<br />Three economically important coal seams, the Lennox, Wadge, and Wolf Creek coals, are located within the locally
<br />important Middle Coal Group of the Williams Fork Formation. At this time, the Wadge coal seam is the only seam
<br />being mined in the Foidel Creek underground mine. The Wadge Coal seam was strip mined in CYCC's adjacent
<br />Energy No. I and Eckman Park Mines (No. C-81-071) and Energy Mine No. 3 (C-64-062).
<br />C~ U H B \C 82 056\R N 03\ R N 0 3 F I N D. d oc
<br />
|