Laserfiche WebLink
2.04.5 General Description of <br />Geology S Hydrology <br />Geology: <br />The Apex 42 Mine is located in one of a group of seams <br />known as the Pinnacle Bed. The Pinnacle Bed is situated <br />below the Trout Creek sandstone and above the Tow Creek <br />Sandstone in the Iles formation. The entire area is highly <br />faulted. The numerous faults run in a northwesterly <br />direction. At least four faults are apparent on the Sunland <br />Mining Corporation lease. These range from 25' to over 150' <br />in vertical displacement. <br />The strata within the permit area generally dips down <br />to the northwest. The exact strike and dip of the beds <br />varies somewhat from fault block to fault block. The <br />average dip encountered in the Apex ~2 mine in fault block <br />lil is 7% @ N 50 W. The average dip in the old Apex X11 mine <br />in fault block 02 is 13% @ N 69 W. <br />All the exposed rock formations in the vicinity of the <br />Apex Mine are sedimentary and were laid down in upper <br />Cretaceous. times. The Apex Mine coal deposits lie in the <br />lower part of the Mesa Verde group. <br />The permit area is located in the southeast corner of <br />the Sand Wash structural basin. The basin is bounded on the <br />. east by the north-trending Park Range (an anticline), and <br />on the southwest by a northwest-trending synclinal basin <br />extending from Yampa on the southeast to a point several <br />miles northwest of Craig. This basin is bisected by a cross <br />field known as the Tow Creek anticline. As a result of <br />this, a small basin is formed to the southeast of the Tow <br />Creek anticline which is drained by the Fish, Middle, Trout <br />and Oak Creeks. <br />Surface Water: <br />The permit area of Sunland Mining Corporation lies is <br />the Trout Creek drainage system which heads in the <br />panhandle area of Rio Blanco County, aad flows generally <br />north through the south-central part of Routt County to its <br />confluence with the Yampa River near the town of Milner. <br />Trout Creek generally flows continuously. During <br />periods of low flow, ground water recharge sustains the <br />flow. All streams of the drainage system have .small, <br />intermittent tributaries. <br />Additional information on surface water is contained <br />in section 2.04.7 and also in the Gingery Associates Inc <br />report "Apex No. 2 Mine Hydrology and Drainage Report". <br />Ground Water: <br />Two separate groundwater systems exist in the permit and <br />adjacent area: Conventional bedrock groundwater, and the <br />alluvial groundwater associated with Trout Creek. <br />21 <br />