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r <br />~ x.'u` <br />....: <br />..' <br />- .;L.ti ~'. _ - ~::-i.:l"'~'~'iaY.;~?"° .; ~Jlw.: ~' - `.i%£:` ::51ti 22'e ";+:~.. <br />transported from the underground workings via conveyors to We Bear No. 3 portal, and then <br />to a stacking tube and coal stockpile. Coal is then transported from the stockpile area by <br />conveyor to a tnrck loadout facility and is trucked to the Terror Creek Loadout facility <br />(Colorado Permit No. C-83-059) near Bowie, Colorado, or to the Somerset Mining Company <br />(Permit No. C-81-022) area for shipping. Mining at the Bear No. 1 and No. 2 Mines ceased <br />in June 1982. The surface facilities of the Bear No. 1 and No. 2 Mines have been removed, <br />and the 19-acre disturbed area has been regraded, ripped, seeded and revegetated. The <br />portals are sealed and the face-up arras backfilled to a stable configuration. <br />The Bear No. 3 operation involved the renovation of the abandoned Edwards portal, and the <br />mining of the C-Seam in Federal Coal Leases D-052501 and C-01170192. Mining has <br />commenced from the outcrop of the C coal seam exposed in the mountainside south of the <br />North Fork of the Gunnison River. Additional development entries were driven to <br />complement those of the Edwards Mine as part of the Edwards Mine reopening and <br />renovation. The main entries proceed updip in a southerly direction with panel development <br />areas extending boffi easterly and westerly from the mains. Ramps to the B-Seam were <br />constructed extending south from the C-Seam main entries. <br />Bear Coal Company produces coal by room and pillar methods with an expected recovery of <br />about 67 to 75 percent. Mining during this five-year permit term will be limited to the B- <br />Seam. Mining during the previous five-year permit term was also within the B-Seam. <br />B-Seam mining was approved via Technical Revisions No. 3. The applicant anticipates <br />mining of the BrSeam 200 feet above the C-Seam, and the F-Seam, 350 feet above the <br />C-Seam, sometime in Ute future . <br />The additional mining approved via Permit Revision-02 renumbers some of the existing <br />panels and incorporates panels 19-23 in Section 20, along with panels 24-28 and 31-38 in <br />Section 16. As a result of the additional reserves and proposed changes, the mining <br />sequence will also be altered slightly. Information about the new mining sequence can be <br />found on Map-9A, B-Seam Mine Plan. <br />A sediment control system, including a sediment pond, drainage ditches and culverts, has <br />been constructed to control surface runoff from the portal and surface facilities areas. <br />Topsoil has been salvaged and stockpiled for use in final reclamation. <br />Upon cessation of mining, final reclamation at the Bear No. 3 Mine will entail facilities <br />removal, portal sealing and backfilling, and regrading the mine bench and face-up area to a <br />stable configuration. The regraded area will be ripped, topsoiled and revegetated. <br />Post-mining land use for the Bear No. 1 and 2 Mines is wildlife habitat. The post-mining <br />land use for the Bear No. 3 Mine is primarily wildlife habitat, with a limited residential use <br />of the facilities area. <br />The operation and reclamation plan presented in the application includes requests for <br />variances from approximate original contour (steep slope mining), mining within 300 feet of <br />a residence, and disturbance-within 100 feet of a perennial stream. The Division has <br />approved these variances. Appropriate mitigation or alternative plans, and waivers have been <br />incorporated into the permit application. <br />12 <br />