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• General <br /> Seneca Coal Company has previously auger mined at the Seneca II Mine back in the mid- to <br /> late 1980'9 and since June 2000 at the Seneca II-W Mine. We are now proposing to auger mine <br /> some existing and future final pit highwalls at Yoast as shown on Exhibit 12-1, Sheet 2 of <br /> 2. Recovery of these existing coal reserves would otherwise be lost since we are at the <br /> economic recovery limit of our stripping equipment. The proposed operations involve auger <br /> mining only [he Wedge coal seam. <br />• <br />• <br />Per regulation 4.23.2(1), any auger mining associated with surface mining activities shall <br />be conducted to maximize recoverability of the coal reserves remaining after the mining <br />activities are completed. Therefore, auger mining operations shall leave areas of <br />undisturbed coal to provide access for removal of those reserves by future underground <br />mining activities. These undisturbed areas of coal shall be a minimum of 250 feeC wide at <br />any poinC between each group of auger openings to the Eull depth of the auger hole. They <br />also are to be no more than 2,500 feet apart, measured from the center of one section to the <br />center of the next section. Aa shown on Exhibit 12-1, Sheet 2 of 2, SCC is proposing to <br />auger only three areas, with existing pillars of unmined coal being left in place between <br />each auger area as iC is. SCC and Peabody Holding Company, Inc. have looked at underground <br />mining at the Yoast Mine and the entire surrounding area and have determined that these <br />proposed auger areas would not be an ideal location for a portal. There are other areas that <br />would be better suited for potential portal locations. <br />Rule 4.23.212) is being complied with already, since there are no abandoned or active <br />underground workings within 500 feet of the proposed auger operations. <br />In the interest of contemporaneous reclamation for 4.23.2(3), augering will be completed as <br />soon as possible after the surface coal has been removed. The augering operations will be <br />following the dragline stripping operations along the entire length of the final highwalls <br />as shown on Exhibit 12-1, Sheet 2 of 2. <br />Por rules 4.23.2(9) and 4.23.2(5), special plugging procedures are not proposed for this set <br />of auger holes. The holes will be plugged by backfilling operations as a normal part of the <br />augering and reclamation operations. Drainage from these holes will no[ be a problem as <br />discussed in [he Hydrology SecCion. <br />12-1-1 Revised O1/O1 <br />