PERMFILE130697

• Permit No: C1981033
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 12/11/2001
• Section_Exhibit Name: INTRODUCTION
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Doc Date:1211112001

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INTRODUCTION
The Bear Coal Company presently mines coal from Federal coal leases on
an area directly east of Somerset, Colorado. With this application, the
Bear Coal Company has prepared a mining and reclamation plan
encompassing the immediately adjacent Federal Coal Lease No. D-052501 in
order to continue mining operations. Bear Coal Company is requesting
approval for this area of mining under the permanent regulatory program
of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, as well as the
Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act.
Geographic Setting

The Bear No. 3 Portals will be located directly east of Somerset,
Colorado, on State Highway 133, as shown on Figure 1, General Location
Map. The mine site is approximately 10 miles east of Paonia, Colorado.
The operation, along with other mines in the area, is served by the
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. The elevation of the portal
locations for the Bear No. 3 Mine is approximately 6,000 feet above sea
level. The entire mining operation is in Gunnison County, Colorado.
The Bear No. 3 Portal Area is drained by one perennial drainage, the
North Fork of the Gunnison River. The North Fork of the Gunnison runs
in a westward direction and flows into the Gunnison River approximately
21 miles from the planned Bear No. 3 Portal area.
Background of Bear Coal Company
The Bear Coal Company is a small, privately-owned, family-run Colorado
corporation with its only office at the mine near Somerset, Colorado.
The company is engaged exclusively in coal mining on lands which it
either owns or leases in the area around Somerset.
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Operations began for the Bear Coal Company back in 1934 and have been
continuous since that time, even during difficult economic years in
which other jobs were scarce in the area. Yearly production rates for
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