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• I. INTRODUCTION <br />Mountain Coal Company is proposing expansion of the majority of the current surface <br />facilities to a location within the Sylvester Gulch drainage basin, approximately one <br />mile south of State Highway 133. Facilities will be constructed on engineered cuts and <br />fills within the Sylvester Gulch drainage bottom and tce and sideslopes. Since this <br />expansion was not anticipated during the initial permitting of the mine, baseline <br />sampling of the undisturbed soils present within the azea proposed for disturbance is <br />being required by the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (CDMG). Soil <br />sampling identified the type and extent of soils available for salvage and use in <br />reclamation efforts after the completion of mining. Soil mapping units were identified <br />through prior mapping, aerial photography, and field reconnaissance. Soil depths and <br />characteristics were evaluated through in situ pedon sampling and horizon chemical and <br />physical analysis through a laboratory. <br />This report presents the results of the baseline soils investigation for the West Elk Mine <br />Sylvester Gulch Facilities Area project. The West Elk Mine is owned and operated by <br />Mountain Coal Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Atlantic Richfield <br />Company, under Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology mining and reclamation <br />• permit C-80-007. Information in this report addresses the current rR situ condition and <br />extent of soils located within the Sylvester Gulch Facilities Area (SGFA) at the mine. <br />For soils to be disturbed during the mining operation, CDMG Rule 2.04.09 requires <br />coal mine permittees to provide information in the permit application describing the <br />location of soil series, associations, and completes, the physical and chemical character <br />of each horizon of each soil type, the suitability of the soils for revegetation, and the <br />present and potential productivity of the soils. <br />Several soil mapping efforts preceded this investigation, and were used as references <br />for the current effort. As expected, soils of the SGFA vary widely, largely in <br />response to highly variable topography, microclimate, vegetation, and hydrologic <br />regimes. Within the area proposed for significant disturbance, four soil units were <br />identified; Work loam, Beenom-Absazokee association, Tomorthents-Rock outcrop, <br />sandstone complex and Fluvents. Adjacent to these units within the study azea, three <br />additional units were encountered; Absazokee-Work loazn, Cryochrepts-Cryoborolls- <br />Rubble land complex, and the Haploborolls-Ustochrepts-Rock outcrop complex. <br />Based on prior discussions with CDMG staff during the baseline data collection for the <br />Refuse Pile Expansion (Savage and Savage, 1996), a sampling plan for the soils at the <br />SGFA was developed. Soil sampling was performed in compliance with Colorado <br />Mined Land Reclamation Boazd Surface Coal Mining Rules 2.04.09 and 4.06 and <br />. current recommended soil sampling methods. Field sampling and mapping was <br />conducted July 30-31, 1996 and October 13, 1996 by Michael Savage and Michael <br />Gillon of Savage and Savage, Inc. Additional baseline soil data collected from two <br />-1- <br />