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-24- <br />Three coal horizons exist in the Lower Coal-Bearing member; the "A" (Old <br />King) horizon, the "B" (Somerset) horizon, and the "C" (Bear) horizon. <br />The "A" horizon is immediately above the Rollins sandstone and is not <br />currently mined. The "B" horizon contains two coal seams and occurs <br />about 2U to 120 feet above the Rollins sandstone. This horizon is <br />presently mined by U.S. Steel at the Somerset Mine and nay be mined at <br />the Mt. Gunnison Mine. The "C" horizon contains one coal seam that <br />occurs 50 to l0U feet above the "B" horizon. This horizon has been mined <br />at U.S. Steel's Elk Creek Mine and the Bear No. 1 and 2 Mines, and is <br />currently mined at the Bear No. 3 Mine. It may be mined at the Mt. <br />Gunnison Mine in the future. <br />The Upper Coal-Bearing (Paonia) member consists of 200 to 500 feet of <br />gray shales; interbedded, buff-colored, lenticular sandstones; and <br />coals. The top of this member is generally considered to be capped by a <br />massive, cliff-forming sandstone. However, like the similar sandstone at <br />the top of the Lower Coal member, this sandstone is not a single <br />persistent bed. Urill hole data for both the Mt. Gunnison and the <br />Somerset life-of-mine areas show this sandstone unit to occur as several <br />lenticular sandstones at sliyhtly different stratigraphic horizons. <br />Three coal horizons have been identifies in the Upper Coal member; the <br />"D" (Oliver] Horizon, the "E" (Hawk's Nest) horizon, and the "F" <br />horizon. The "U" horizon occurs directly above the "massive" sandstone <br />of the Lower Coal-Bearing member and contains three seams. This horizon <br />is currently being mined in the Orchard Valley Mine, and is planned to be <br />mined at the Hawk's Nest itiline. This seam nay also be mined in the future <br />at the Mt. Gunnison Mine, and by Bear Coal in the Bear No. 3 Mine. The <br />"E" horizon occurs about 130 feet above the "D" horizon and contains two <br />coal seams. This horizon is currently being mined at the Hawk's Nest <br />Mine and at tihe Blue kibbon Mine. It may be mined at the Mt. Gunnison <br />Mine and at the Bear No. 3 Mine in the future. The "F" horizon contains <br />two coal seams and presently is only mined at the Mt. Gunnison Mine. <br />Coal seams of the "F" horizon do not exist to the north of the North Fork <br />in thicknesses sufficient for mining. <br />The Barren (Undifferentiated) member of the Mesaverde Formation consists <br />of up to 1,600 feet of terrestrial sedimentary rocks. This unit consists <br />of fine-grained, buff-colored, lenticular sandstones; gray shales and <br />thin lenticular coal beds. The sandstones predominate and are highly <br />lenticular, discontinuous and of limited lateral extent in outcrop <br />(Johnson, 1948). <br />The Mesaverde Formation is unconfornably overlain by the Tertiary Age <br />Rudy or Wasatch Formation. This formation consists of red to <br />buff-colored shales, red sandstones, and red to gray conglomerates. The <br />sediments of this formation are weathered volcanic rocks. The Ohio Creek <br />conglomerate is the basal unit within the formation and is 100 to 200 <br />feet thick. <br />