2006-06-02_PERMIT FILE - C1980007A (3)

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West Elk Mine • Rollins Sandstone Member The Rollins Sandstone Member is conspicuous white to buff, well-sorted, fine to medium grained, massive cliff-forming sandstone of marginal mazine origin, ranging in thickness from 150 to 300 feet in the area. Although this sandstone forms a good local subsurface marker, it is a poor regional marker because of lateral facies changes and intertonguing with shale. The Rollins Sandstone forms conspicuous cliffs in the area and is generally easily recognizable in cores. It has poor permeability and a few miles to the north has been given "tight gas sand" designation by the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission. Lower Coal Member The Lower Coal Member consists of interbedded sandstones, siitstones, shales, and coal. The unit averages 270 feet in thickness and contains three recognized persistent potentially mineable coals in its lower part; the A, B, and C Seams. The Lower Coal Member is almost always capped by massive Bowie Sandstone units which range in thickness from 20 to 225 feet (informally designated as the "Upper and Lower Marine Sandstones"). These sandstones appear similaz in nature to the Rollins sandstone, but show much more variation in thickness. The top of this sandstone marks the base of the Upper Coal Member. Upper Coal Member The Upper Coal Member contains approximately 220 feet of shales, mudstones, siltstones, sandstones, and three persistent and potentially minable coals recognized as the D, E, and F Seams. The D and E Coal Seams locally merge to form a single coal seam of mineable thickness. The Upper Coal Member displays sequences of disturbed bedding (attributed to compaction and bioturbation) in the non-coal units. The shale to sandstone ratio increases relative to the Lower Coal Member, and the sandstones appeaz to be less continuous than those in the Lower Coal Member. This is probably due to a greater fluvial influence in the depositional re;;ime of the Upper Coal Member. Barren Member The Ban•en Member of the Mesaverde Group lies above the F Seam and is approximately 1000 feet thick in the West Elk Mine coal lease area. This member consists of interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shale with a few thin and discontinuous coals of no commercial impo~.-tance. The Barren Member caps the highlands in the western, central, and southern portions of the mine property. The lenticular sandstones commonly form the uppermost cliffs in outcrop. Beneath the highest mesas occurring in the easternmost portions of the West Elk Mine coal le~use azea, the Barren Member is overlain by the Ohio Creek Member and the Wasatch Formation. 2.04.21 Revised November 1004 PR70