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iii iiiiiiiiniiiiii <br />999 <br />2.05 .3 Doc Date:1 211 112 0 01 <br />OPERATIONAL PLAN - PERMIT AREA <br />METHOD OF COAL EXTRACTION <br />The Blue Flame Coal Company is an underground coal mine. A 'maximum <br />stripping ratio of 1:50 make coal extraction operations amendable to under- <br />ground coal mines and is called coal extraction room and pillar mining. A <br />series of mine openings are developed from the surface to the coal resources of <br />the mine property. At the Blue Flame Coal Company, the upper Menefee coal seam <br />outcrops along Ray Gulch. The portals (mine openings) are constructed) at the <br />seam outcrops. The openings oz entries are then advanced in the coal following <br />the seam. No shafts (vertical openings) or inclines through over burden <br />material are necessary. <br />The coal reserves are divided up into sections or panels convenient <br />for extraction. First, after a panel has been developed, the pillars are <br />extracted on retreat from the panel In this way, the recovery of the coal is <br />maximized. <br />MINE WORKINGS <br />The mine plan map shows the existiny mine workings. <br />STRUCTURAL CONSIDEFATIONS OF THE MINE LAYOUT <br />The Blue Flame workings to the upper Menefee (pueblo) coal seam of the <br />Menefee formation (Mesa Verde Group). The seam is about six feet in thickness. <br />The equipment used in the mine and the mining method itself is tailored to this <br />seam's structural contours. The seam dip at a 38 grade to the Southwest. The <br />strike of the seam is S 55° E. <br /> For practical purposes, the upper Menefee seam may be considered flat <br /> or tabular. Most of the underground openings or en tries are driven along some <br />• given angle to the true dip to take advantage of the properties boundaries. <br /> This angle cannot be correlated to the cleat of the coal. The tight cleat <br />