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EA - 016 <br />. Page 2 <br />Historv and Backrzround of the Leases and Ooerations. Coal <br />lease Denver 046544 issued in 1937 and contained 80 acres. In 1970 <br />an additional 40 acres was granted as a modification to the lease. <br />An additional lease of 80 acres, Colorado 0127592 was granted to <br />Routt Mining Corporation in 1966. <br />on lease Denver'~46544 in 1937 when <br />1963. In 1966 the A ex No. 2 Mine was opened by the Routt Minin <br />Corporation and has been in continuous opera ion since that date. <br />The Routt Mining Corporation leases and assets were acquired <br />by Sunland Mining Corporation in February 1977. Sunland has begun <br />an expansion of operations designed to increase production from the <br />20,000 TPY average of the last several years to 100,000 TPY. <br />The coal production from this property went entirely to <br />the local domestic market in the vicinity of the mine. For the <br />past several years the Apex No. 2 Mine has been the primary producer <br />of domestic coal in the area. Sunland now plans to continue producing <br />coal for domestic space heating use as well as producing coal for the <br />• larger power plant market available to them. <br />Past and Present Land Use. The mine area has been and is <br />presently used for seasonal sheep and cattle grazing and wildlife <br />habitats. There is limited hunting and fishing activity. <br />DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION <br />The mine is presently operated with a three entry system of <br />room and pillar mining. The portals are located in the SWly SWZ, <br />Section 22 on the coal outcrop of the 4 to 4-1/2 feet No. 2 coal <br />seam of the Lower Mesaverde coal group presently being mined. The <br />outcrop is on a southeast facing slope above the Routt County road <br />No. 29 (Trout Creek Road). <br />The main entries have been driven about 1500 feet down dip from <br />the portals. The mining has taken place in a strip about 1200 feet <br />wide in a block between two NW-SE trending faults. Mining has been <br />confined to the immediate fault block. A rock split has been en- <br />countered at the end of the slopes which makes the coal too diff- <br />icult to mine. The present mineable reserves in this block are <br />estimated to be 20,000 tons. <br />The company proposes to gain access to the other mineable seams on <br />. the lease through two sets of rock tunnels to be driven from the present <br />,alo/9~ <br />r~~~ <br />