Laserfiche WebLink
• <br />As Western Slope Carbon has mined under deeper cover we have encountered <br />more water, and greater difficulty with roof oonditi~s. Soft floor has <br />always been a problem. In the past, it was possible to leave coal ~ <br />the roof, area floor, thereby maintaining the high quality Product that <br />today's market requires. Our seam thiclmess has changed from 10' to 6', <br />and drill holes indicate that the coal mined in the future will either <br />be relatively thin (6') or dirty (rack bands in the coal). (See e>d~ibit <br />3, page 9). <br />The water, poor roof, and soft bottom slag our mining, but mre signifi- <br />cantly, they add to the ash content of the opal. Water aggravates both <br />poor roof, and soft bottom. 4~heen the roof falls (usually 6" - 12") score <br />of the rock ends up in the coal, raising the amount of ash. Soft bottom <br />with water becomes a mire through which our equipment cannot travel. <br />'This mud also contaminates the coal. <br />• When we have soft bottan trouble, or the roof falls the material must be <br />loaded out of the mine. This necessitates stopping production in the <br />other two sections. This costs appmxinetely 1'~ hours per unit shift. <br />Our present product (128 - 158 Ash) is nearly unmarketable, and the <br />measures we must take to maintain this ash content has reduced our <br />productivity to the point where it costs more to mine the coal than we <br />can sell it for. This places Western Slope Carbon, Inc. in the position <br />of either closing the operation, or building a coal cleaning plant. <br />Both alternatives have a socio-eoonanic impact upon the North Fork <br />Valley. Annual figures demonstrating this irtg~act are: <br />• <br />-5- <br />