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9~ __ I ~ 2 , OS , 2 Doc Date:12N 1/2001 i OPERATIONAL PLAN - MINE PLAN AREA METHOD OF COAL EXTRACTION The Blue Flame Coal Company is an underground coal mine. A,maximum stripping ratio of ]:50 make coal extraction operations amendable to~ under- ground methods only. The method used is common to most U.S. underground coal mines and is called coal extraction room and pillar mining. A series of mine openings are developed from the surface to the coal resources of the mine property. At the Blue Flame Coal Company, the upper Menefee coal seam outcrops along Hay Gulch. The portals (mine openings) are constructed at the seam outcrops. The openings or entries are then advanced in the coal following the seam. No shafts (vertical openings) or inclines through overburden material are necessary. The coal reserves are divided up into sections or panels cal nvenient I for extraction. First, rooms are developed leaving coal pillars to support the main roof. Later, after a panel has been developed, the pillars are extracted on retreat from the panel. In this way, the recovery of the coal is maximized. Blue Flame Coal Co. plans to remove ]3,200 tons of coal peryear and 66,000 tons total for the five year permit term. ~ In the event of a demonstrated marketability demand for coal, it is possible Blue Flame Coal Co. may apply under the appropriate Federal Emergency Provisions for additional reserves now owned by the Federal Government. If the above mentioned contingencies were to occur, Blue Flame Coal Co. will make the appropriate application to the M.L. R.B. MINE WORKINGS The mine plan map shows the existing mine workings. STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS OF TH F. MINE LAYOUT The Blue Flame workings to the upper Menefee (Pueblo) coal seam of the . Menefee formation (Mesa Verde Group). The seam is about six feet in thickness. The equipment used in the mine and the mining method itself is taylored to this