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Doc Date:12N 112001 III I II I II I II IIII III <br />SIE ," 3.1 GENERAL MINE NARRATNE <br />3.1.1 PREVIOUS MINING AREAS <br />C~ <br />Mining in the Edna Mine area began with the arrival of the railroad in the <br />1930's. The early mines were underground, but as the result of changing coal markets <br />and coal mining technology, surface mining began in the late 1940's. In 1965, the last <br />underground mine closed leaving the Edna Mine as the last mine in the area. Although <br />surface mines still have economic and safety advantages over underground mines, the <br />limited amount of coal reserves that can be surface mined will force any mining after <br />the Edna Mine is completed underground again. <br />The underground operations (Exhibit 3.1-I) that existed in and around the permit <br />area mined mostly the Pinnacle coal seams. The Hayden and Edna underground mines <br />did mine a small portion of the Wadge coal seam. The mining method used in these <br />underground operations was the room and pillar method to supply stoker coal for home <br />heating purposes. <br />Surface mining at The Edna Mine was started by The Edna Coal Company. Stoker <br />cool was produced for home heating purposes. In the early years of operation, a <br />Bucyrus Erie 9W dragline with a 12 cubic yard bucket was used to area strip the <br />overburden. In about 1952, Edna Coal Company bought a Bucyrus Erie 7W dragline <br />with an 8 cubic yard bucket to supplement the overburden removal of the 9W dragline. <br />Overburden removal started at the cropline of the coal seam and continued deeper <br />until the limits of the draglines were reached. <br />The Pittsburg and Midway Cool Mining Co. acquired The Edna Coal Company in <br />September, 1961. The company continued to sell custom coal and stoker coal for <br />home heating purposes. In 1967, a Bucyrus Erie 1260W-40 cubic yard dragline was <br />brought into operation to strip deeper to the Wadge coal seam and replace the Bucyrus <br />Erie 9W dragline. In 1968, the Bucyrus Erie 7W dragline was moved to another <br />Pittsburg and Midway Coal operation, leaving the Bucyrus Erie 1260W dragline as the <br />sole stripping machine. Due to the change to oil and gas for home heating purposes, <br />o major portion of the coal was sold to public utilities, with a small portion for home <br />heating purposes. The Bucyrus Erie 1260W dragline is presently in operation at Edna <br />Mine. The coal produced is sold almost entirely to public utilities, although sales To <br />individuals for home heating have increased recently. <br />Throughout the life of Edna Mine, three coal seams have been extracted by <br />surface mining. They are the Lennox, Wadge and Lower Wadge coal seams. In the <br />3.1-I <br />