PERMFILE136189 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

iii iiiii~iiiiiuiii 999 SI 2.04.6 Geology Description Doc Date:1211112001 • • The coal deposit which GEC Minerals, Inc. currently is mining and plans to continue to mine is located within the Canon City Coal Field. The rocks within this formation are located within the Upper Cretaceous Formation above the prevalent sandstone member known as the Trinidad Sandstone. Numerous coal seams are located within this measure. Locally, five minable coal seams vary in thickness from 2 to 4 feet. Their configuration makes it possible to mine them to overburden depths of approximately 140 feet because their thickness and spacing allow for favorable coal to overburden ratios as shown on Geologic Cross Section, Map No. 6. The rocks themselves within the area which GEC Minerals, Inc. plans to mine consist primarily of sandstones, siltstones, shales and fire clays. This material is interbedded and lenticular in nature and varies throughout the mine plan area. The strata immediately below the lowest coal seam is shale. In addition, the surface is covered with colluvium which has washed down from the mountainous terrain from the west and deposited on an erosional surface over the coal deposit. colluvium exists in varying thicknesses and has eroded away the coal seams in some places to depths approximately 30 to 50 feet below the ground surface. colluvium consists of large boulders and cobbles and smaller sandy material which absorb water and have a high trans- misivity. GEC Minerals, Inc. utilizes this material for building roads and for other construction purposes as required within the mine operation. Coal seams as correlated within the mine area as shown on Map No. 6 have been correlated utilizing the existing pit and numerous drill holes within the area. Seam names and numbers vary depending upon 2.04-11