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PR-12 Exhibit 71 <br />8 <br />3.0 GROUND WATER HYDROLOGY <br />There are no significant ground water resources in the SOD and PR-12 areas. The only aquifer in the <br />region is associated with the alluvium of the North Fork of the Gunnison River which is located about 3 <br />miles north of the SOD and PR-12 areas. A thin band of alluvium along Minnesota Creek provides a <br />limited ground water source to local users. PR-12 involves mining in the E-Seam in areas well below the <br />ground surface in the DFL area where the overburden thickness ranges from about 375 to over 1,000 feet. <br />The E-Seam outcrops in the southeast portion of the SOD area along the upper Minnesota Creek drainage <br />and dips to the northeast and does not outcrop in the PR-12 area (Map 1). The potentiometric surface of <br />the ground water in the E-Seam (fall 2005) generally follows the structure (northeast dip) of the coal bed <br />as shown on Map 1. <br />MCC has collected baseline water quality data and routinely monitors 10 wells in the SOD area, including <br />2 alluvial wells (Upper Dry Fork Alluvial and Lower Dry Fork Alluvial), and 8 bedrock wells (SOM-23- <br />H-1, SOM-23-H-2, SOM-23-H-3, SOM-23-H-4, SOM-C-76, 96-2-2, SOM-3B, and SOM-3E). The <br />locations of the monitoring wells are shown on Map 1. Additional strategically placed monitoring wells <br />may be added to the ground water monitoring network at least two years prior to mining, as necessary. A <br />summary of the WEM (including the SOD and PR-12 area) ground water monitoring well characteristics <br />for the SOD area hydrologic characterization is presented in Table 3. An abbreviated summary of the <br />ground water quality data is presented in Table 4 and additional baseline water quality and water level <br />data are presented in Appendix C. The comprehensive hydrologic monitoring plan for the WEM is <br />discussed in Section 4.0 of this document. <br />September 2007 HPdroGeo, Inc.