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11 Introduction <br />Oxbow Mining, LLC operates the Sanborn Creek and Elk Creek Mines. The surface facilities <br />for the mines are located immediately north of the town of Somerset, Colorado in Gunnison <br />County. The Sanborn Creek Mine portals were located about one mile east and the Elk Creek <br />Mine portal is located about a half mile north of the mine facilities, the town of Somerset and <br />State Highway 133. Coal from both mines was conveyed to the surface facilities where storage, <br />processing (screening and crushing) is conducted. (In early 2003 the Sanborn Creek mine <br />completed mining of the last longwall panel, the mining equipment was removed and the mine <br />was sealed and the portals reclaimed) The coal is then loaded onto unit train rail cars for <br />shipment to customers. A limited amount of coal is transported by highway truck from the <br />facilities to a nearby loading and crushing facility (Terror Creek Loadout) where sized products <br />are provided to customers. <br />The Sanborn Creek and Elk Creek Mines' surface facilities are located within the North Fork of <br />the Gunnison River drainage, which is a tributary to the Colorado River. The North Fork <br />drainage ranges in elevation from 5,550 feet to 12,000 feet and drains 1,253 square miles. The <br />average annual discharge of the North Fork of the Gunnison River at the U.S. Geological Survey <br />gauging station 2.3 miles east of Somerset is 313,300 acre feet of water, or an average discharge <br />of 457 cubic feet per second. Peak flows generally occur in May as a result of snowmeh with <br />minimum flows occumng during the winter months. <br />• Surface drainage from the CDMG permit area runs directly to the North Fork of the Gunnison <br />River. One perennial, one intermittent, and eleven ephemeral creeks and gulches drain the <br />permit area. From west to east, the creeks shown on CDMG permit drawing 2.04-M6 are known <br />as: <br />Hubbard Creek Perennial <br />Bear Creek Ephemeral <br />Elk Creek Ephemeral <br />Sanborn Creek Ephemeral <br />Unnamed Drainage Ephemeral <br />Coal Gulch Ephemeral <br />A-Gulch Ephemeral <br />B-Gulch Ephemeral <br />C-Gulch Ephemeral <br />Hawksnest Creek Ephemeral <br />Hoopla Gulch Ephemeral <br />Bazdine Canyon Ephemeral <br />Thompson Creek Intermittent <br />• <br />