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<br />3482.1(a)(3)(iii) - Narrative Description of Proposed Exploration <br />Area: <br />' The proposed exploration area is located seven to thirteen miles <br />south and west of the town of Hayden, Colorado. The area lies <br />' within portions of T.SN., R.88W., T.6N.,R.88W., T.SN., R.89W., <br />T.6N.,R.89W., of Routt County, and T.SN.,R.90W. of Moffat County. <br />The area is located south of the Yampa River and north of the <br />Williams Fork River. <br />' The Exploration area consists of approximately 32,000 acres. <br />Exploration of Federal Coal Lands is limited to a total of 24,414 <br />' acres. The remaining acreage is private or state owned. <br />SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY: <br />The general topography is characterized by relatively gentle <br />north-northeast facing dip slopes and by steep south-southwest <br />' facing escarpments directly south of the project area. <br />Topographic relief in the exploration area is approximately 1,400 <br />feet, ranging from 6,500 feet to 7,900 feet. <br />' GEOLOGIC SETTING: <br />' Coal-bearing strata of the project area are found in the Iles and <br />Williams Fork Formations of the Mesaverde Group. The coals of <br />primary interest are designated as the Middle Coal Group and <br />' include the Lennox, Wadge, Sage Creek, and Wolf Creek Seams. The <br />stratigraphic sequences are illustrated and presented as Figure <br />1, General stratigraphic Column. <br />' The Middle Coal Group is stratigraphically positioned between two <br />regressive sandstone deposits. These sandstones are expressed at <br />the surface as prominent cliff-forming units throughout the <br />' Williams Fork Mountains. These bounding units are the Twentymile <br />Sandstone Member of the Williams Fork Formation and the Trout <br />Creek Sandstone Member of the Iles Formation. These units are <br />' considered the significant groundwater aquifers of the area. <br />The exploration area is located in the southern extension of the <br />Washakie/Sand Wash structural basin. The basin is bordered on <br />' the east by the Park Range and on the southwest by the Axial <br />Basin Anticline. <br />' Locally, the coal seams of the project area are set in a <br />structural basin, with the axis trending N.25 degrees W., and <br />plunging to the north. It is defined by the Sage Creek Anticline <br />' on the east, the Buck Peak Anticline on the west, and the Beaver <br />Creek Anticline to the south. Dips range from approximately 7 <br />14 <br /> <br />