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III IIIIIIIIIIIII III 999 4.0 OPERATION AND RECLAMATION PLANS • 5~~_ 4.1 Objectives and Backoround ~I.a CjETlEPJ1 L ~Cr'k~~OYI (~LRiI- ~.1 ~C, ~ U 2 0.'f101'15 The objectives of this section are to ensure that all agencies are provided with comprehensive and reliable information on the under- ground coal mining, and to ensure that those operations are con- ducted in compliance with all applicable Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division, the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act, the Mine Safety and Health Admini- stration, Garfield County Special Use Permit and other appropriate Federal, State and Local Authorities. New Castle Energy's proposed mine is an underground hydraulic mining operation with surface coal preparation. Hydraulic coal mining is and has been successfully practiced in China, USSR, West • Germany, India, Japan, and Canada. The hydraulic mining technology was introduced as early as 1953 in the Soviet Union. Productivity levels and economics at these mines are in all cases better than the productivities achieved in conventional mines in the same general localities. In Japan, USSR, and Canada, the coal resource has a similar geologic setting, but more severe operation condi- tions than the Coal Ridge Mine Reserve. Hydraulic mining in Japan has proven to be successful in producing coal from very steeply pitching seams that are generally around S to 10 feet thick, lie under 3000 feet of cover and suffer from considerable methane and rock burst problems. In the United States, hydraulic mining has not been developed to the same degree as the aforementioned countries. The only excep- tion being, Consolidation Coal partial hydraulic mine at Loveridge, West Virginia. There are no full-scale hydraulic coal mines in . NCIG - Coal Ridge #1 4-1 ABC/1145/910509 ~~-7