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within the area will be found within the Trinidad sandstone substantially below the formations that are being mined. No hydrologic data is available currently to substantiate this assumption. 2.05.3 Operation Plan - Permit Area Production Methods and Equipment. The production method which GEC Minerals, Inc. currently utilizes is one which is most optimum .with regard to the existing geometry of the coal reserve which is currently being mined. Existing drill hole data indicates that these conditions persist throughout the remainder of the proposed permit area and that this type of equipment and mining method is also applicable to the remainder of this coal reserve. The mining operation has been designed to flow efficiently from topsoil removal through drilling and blasting, overburden removal, coal loading and haulage to backfilling and grading, topsoil replacement, • and final revegetation. The first activity to occur on a new bench to be opened is the clearing and the grubbing of the plant material and trees to enable topsoil and subsoil removal to occur. Clearing and grubbing is accomplished by utilizing crawler tractors to push the trees and brush into piles prior to topsoil removal. Once the area has been cleared, large rubber tired scrapers similar to Terex 5-24's, are utilized in combination with a crawler tractor to load the topsoil and carry it either to an existing or new topsoil stockpile or to the regraded area for redistribution. Similarly the subsoil is loaded with a large rubber tired scraper and hauled to a subsoil stockpile or redistributed on the regraded overburden fill area. Particular care is taken to ensure that all topsoil and subsoil material is removed prior to the overburden removal operation and to also ensure that it is not contaminated with nonsoil material. Particular care is taken in locating the • subsoil and topsoil stockpiles to ensure that wind and water erosion, 2.05-4