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• SECTION 2.04.5 <br />GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HYDROLOGY AND GEOLOGY <br />General Geology <br />Phvsiograohv. WFC's New Horizon Mine is located two and one-half miles northwest of Nucla in <br />Montrose County, Colorado. The mine is located within the Colorado Plateau Physiographic <br />Province, Canyon Land section in southwest Colorado. The region is characterized by broad, fairly <br />smooth surfaced plateaus and mesas with gently dipping slopes dissected by deep canyons. <br />Numerous large folds and rugged laccolithic mountains attribute their topographic relief and steep <br />slopes to geologic structures; while local hills, drains, and canyons are erosional features produced <br />by surface drainage. <br />In relation to regional drainage systems, the permit area is located in the upper reaches of Tuttle <br />draw, a tributary to the San Miguel River. The San Miguel River empties into the Dolores River <br />northeast of Uravan, Colorado, which in turn, leaves the state northwest of Gateway, Colorado and <br />empties into the upper Colorado River in Utah. <br />Approximately 4,870 feet of relief is present in the Nucla area, from a high elevation of 9,870 feet <br />• (MSL) at the crest of the Uncompahgre Plateau to the northeast, to below 5,000 feet (MSL) along <br />the San Miguel River at Uravan. Steep slopes are common on the flanks of the Uncompahgre <br />Plateau; whereas more gentle slopes dominate in the Nucla area. Vertical drops of several <br />hundred feet are not uncommon along the San Miguel and Dolores River canyons. <br />Surface elevations at the mine range from a high of 5,767 feet (MSL) in the northwest part of the <br />permit, to a low of slightly less than 5,672 feet (MSL) in the southeast part along Tuttle Draw (see <br />Map 2.04,7-1 ). Total topographic relief for the permit area is 95 feet (MSL). <br />Topographic features on the permit include gentle southwest facing slopes, !ow rolling hills, old spoil <br />piles, regraded mined areas cut by open pits, and shallow drains (euphemeral) which feed Tuttle <br />Draw (intermittent). <br />Regional Geology Southwest Colorado exhibits a wide and unusual variety of physiography, <br />mineral resources, soils, groundwater conditions, and surface water conditions which are, to a great <br />extent, influenced by the region's geology. In this part of the San Juan Coal Region (Nucla-Naturita <br />Coal Field), a series of major northwest trending structural features and complex intraformational <br />stratigraphic relationships control the overall occurrence and quality of coal reserves. <br />• 2.04.5 - 1 <br />