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• The room and pillar equipment consists of continuous miner units, each containing a continuous miner, <br />two shuttle cars, one roof bolter and a scoop. <br />An underground electrical distribution system delivers electrical power at 13,800 volts to the points of <br />use in the mine. Transformers are used to obtain the required voltages for the mining equipment. <br />Although the coal seams are not expected to produce significant amounts of groundwater, the mine <br />drainage system is designed to dewater the mine quickly enough to prevent any safety hazard to <br />workers or equipment. <br />III.A.5 Roof Control The roof control plan, which has been submitted to and approved by the Federal <br />Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) contains the following provisions: <br />• Entries will be driven on 20 to 150-foot centers, cross cuts on 50 to 200-foot centers. <br />Entries and crosscuts will be 16-22 feet wide. Full extraction may be practical during room <br />and pillar mining. <br />• The major means of roof support will be provided by roof bolts 410 feet in length installed <br />vertically. Some areas may require cable trusses and/or angled roof bolts to support <br />incompetent or unstable roof material. Roof bolts will be installed on 5-foot centers. <br />• Certain areas will also be supported by wood posts and cribs. <br />III.A.S Mining Plan A complete description of the mining system is included previously in this section. <br />BME intends to extract coal from the D coal seam by utilizing both longwall and room and pillar, with <br />pillar extraction methods. The mine is being developed by driving a series of mains and submains with <br />continuous miners. These entries serve as the arteries for coal conveying and ventilation. The mains <br />and submains, which will remain open for the life of the mine, are supported by roof bolts. Additional <br />support may include timbers, steel arches, steel mats, steel mesh and shotcrete. <br />Permit Renewal #3 (Rev, 8/99) III-8 <br />