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Chapter II <br />These are controlling factors of actual coal production which have proven difficult to <br />. anticipate. As a result, Mid-Continent has found it necessary to be highly adaptable <br />in all aspects of the Coal Basin operations. <br />Coal produced from the first year of production to the last full year of production <br />prior to submittal of the application (1956 through 1986) totals 19,332,146 tons, an <br />average of 644,404 tons per year. Production over the 30-year period for each of <br />the two seams being mined totals 14,468,121 tons of coal from the lower B-bed <br />seam; 4,864,625 million tons of coal from the upper, M-bed seam. <br />Modernization of the mine will allow for greater productivity and higher tonnages if <br />market conditions are such that there is a demand for more coal production. From <br />1980-1986, the average annual production for the Coal Basin operation totalled <br />815,121 tons, which represents an increase over the 30-year average, although <br />demand for coal has been constrained due to a downturn in the steel industry. <br />During the first three quarters of 1987, the Coal Basin operations produced a total of <br />604,932 tons of coal, including 57,398 tons from the B-bed and 547,534 tons from <br />the M-bed. <br />2. Operation Description <br />a. Surface Operations Related to <br />Underground Mining. <br />The permit area of the Coal Basin operations, including disturbed area, and land <br />above the underground workings, including past and projected mining, totals <br />11,386 acres. <br />The permit area is on both sides of the Huntsman Ridge. <br />Surface facilities and mine entries are located on the east side of the ridge within <br />Coal Basin. The basin extends over an area of approximately 26 square miles <br />(Exhibit II-A-I). <br />Disturbed area within the permit area totals 333 acres. <br />Areas of surface disturbance include the Adit/Rock Tunnel yard, main entry portals <br />and ventilation fans, hoists, loading bins, roads, preparation plant facilities, coal <br />processing waste disposal areas, solid waste disposal areas, water control <br />structures, offices, power transmission lines, methane pipeline, oil and gas storage, <br />powder magazines, parking lot facilities, other miscellaneous structures. (Exhibits <br />II-B-4 a-e). <br />• <br />12 <br />