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INTRODUCTION <br />thickness of 2.5 feet to 15 feet. The primary coal seams in the Colowyo operation are the Y, X, A, B, C, <br />D, E, and F coal seams. <br />Operations at Colowyo began in 1976 with the construction of the necessary support facilities such as the <br />haul and access road and the office," shop, and maintenance facilities. Topsoil and overburden removal <br />began shortly thereafter with coal production of 294,504 tons in 1977. Coal production increased to <br />1,105,576 tons in 1978. The yearly coal production records for Colowyo are shown on Table 2.05-3, <br />Historical Coal Shipped (Sold) and Anticipated Annual Shipped (Sold). <br />The mine area is served by a 22-mile railroad spur which was constructed from near Craig, Colorado in <br />1978-1979, at Colowyo's expense, for the specific purpose of servicing the mine. The Union Pacific <br />Railroad is the rail carrier for Colowyo Coal. <br />Colowyo Coal production is shipped by rail from the crushing and loadout facility known as the Gossard <br />Loadout. The Gossard Loadout crushes coal in a secondary crusher to customer specifications and then <br />loads coal into rail cars of a "unit-train." <br />About four miles from the Gossard Loadout, mine-run coal is crushed to 8 inch minus at the primary <br />crusher adjacent to the pit. This coal is then trucked approximately 4 miles to the Gossard Loadout where <br />it is put through a secondary crusher and loaded into rail cars. <br />Gossard Loadout plant can crush over 1000 tons of coal per hour. The crushed coal, after sampling for <br />quality, is conveyed to a 100,000-ton stockpile over the railroad tracks. The 100-ton rail cars are flood <br />loaded as they pass beneath the stockpile. <br />Unit-train loading enables the customers of Colowyo to obtain lower freight rates than would be possible <br />with individual train movements. <br />Colowyo also produces and sells stoker coal produced in a screening plant located near the primary <br />crusher adjacent to the pit. <br />Stoker coal is crushed and screened at the plant and trucked to a rail siding located at the Gossard <br />Loadout. The coal is loaded into railcars by front-end loaders. For further details regarding the stoker coal <br />loading facility, refer to Exhibit 15 - Stoker Coal Facility. <br />Necessity for Permit Renewal / Permit Revision <br />This application represents a request for both a renewal of a valid existing permit from the Colorado <br />Mined Land Reclamation Board pursuant to the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act C.R.S. <br />1973, Section 34-33101 et sect and a permit revision to incorporate the mining and reclamation of <br />adjacent coal leases. These leases are Federal Lease C-29224 and State of Colorado Lease 257/135. The <br />net effect of this request is to effect compliance with the Colorado Act and the Rules and Regulations <br />published on August 30, 1980. <br />From an historical perspective, the major permit approvals received in conjunction with the surface <br />mining operations at Colowyo are as follows: <br />1) Special Use Permit from the Moffat County Planning Commission on May 10, 1976. <br />2) Open Mining Permit No. 76-15 from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources on August <br />31, 1976 permitting a production level of 3 million tons per year for 5 years. <br />Introduction 3 Date Revised: 6/23/08 <br />Revision No: MR-91