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<br />CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE 1997 INVESTIGATIONS <br />Overview <br />Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc. (MAC), conducted a variety of cultural resource <br />investigations for the proposed Lorencito Canyon Mine in 1997 (Figure 1). The proposed surface <br />and subsurface coal mine is located between the towns of Segundo and Weston, south of the <br />Purgatoire River, about I S miles west of Trinidad, Colorado. These investigations are part of <br />ongoing cultural resource work at the mine, begun in the summer of 1996, and projected to continue <br />for several more years as development of the mine progresses. <br />Most of the major mine facilities, including portal locations and the surface mine area, have <br />already been inventoried for cultural resources (McKibbin et al. 1997). However, a number of sites <br />within these areas still required evaluative testing to determine National Register eligibility, and a <br />number of smaller, ancillary facilities locations still required survey and possible testing. During <br />• 1997, the following areas were either surveyed, sites were tested, or both: <br />Sedimentation Ponds 001, 002, 003, 005, 007, 008, 009 <br />Fill Areas 2, 3, 5, 8 <br />Water Line (P3 Portal) <br />Power Lines (P3 Portal and Load Out) <br />P3 Haul Road realignment <br />Load Out <br />Rai] Spur <br />Lorencito Canyon Road <br />survey <br />survey <br />survey and testing <br />survey and testing <br />survey and testing <br />testing <br />survey and testing <br />addressed with the rail spur <br />Since the original inventory for the project in 1996, investigations have focused on those <br />parts of the mine whose development is most imminent. For 1997, these included the load out, rail <br />spur, P3 haul road, and P3 portal. Construction of some of these facilities was originally proposed <br />to begin in the summer of 1997. MAC submitted preliminary reports of these investigations <br />(McKibbin 1997a, 1997b) to the State Historic Preservation Office and Division of Minerals and <br />Geology in order to facilitate the mine's permitting process. Ground work for reporting procedures <br />was established in the final report for 1996 (McKibbin et al. 1997). <br />Description of Mine Facilities and Investi atg ions <br />. The proposed rail spur, located at the mouth of Lorencito Canyon, will connect the previously <br />inventoried load out facility to the existing Colorado and Wyoming Railroad tracks. A 400 <br />