Laserfiche WebLink
• EXPLORATION PLAN <br />3482.1(A)(3)(iii)-Narrative Description of Proposed Exploration Area <br />This Notice of Intent addresses two distinct exploration areas. The Dry Fork area has surface <br />lands managed by the Gunnison National Forest and minerals administered by the Bureau of <br />Land Management. The Lions Mesa area has surface lands privately held by Mountain Coal <br />Company, and privately owned minerals leased by Mountain Coal Company. The areas are <br />described below and will be henceforth referred to as Dry Fork and Lions Mesa respectively. <br />The proposed Dry Fork exploration area is located approximately 11 miles east of Paonia, <br />Colorado and 6 miles southeast of the town of Somerset, Colorado. The area lies within a portion <br />of T.13S. and T.14S. R.90W. 6th Prime Meridian, Gunnison County, Colorado. The proposed <br />exploration area is located south and east of the existing West Elk Mine as shown in Figure 1A. <br />Locations of the four proposed sites are shown in Table 1. The area applied for is within an <br />existing coal license held by Mountain Coal Company (C-1362). Three of the four proposed drill <br />sites have been previously analyzed and approved as part of MCC's E Seam Methane Drainage <br />Well Project and are proposed to converted to MDW's upon completion of exploration activities. <br />The USFS Record of Decision for the E Seam MDW Project, dated 11-18-2007, is included as <br />Attachment 2. The fourth site has been previously used as an exploration drill site for hole SOM- <br />66 drilled in August 1974. The site is to be re-drilled due to suspect thickness and quality data. <br />is The proposed Lions Mesa area is located approximately 11 miles east of Paonia, Colorado and 8 <br />miles southeast of the town of Somerset, Colorado. The area lies within a portion of T.14S. <br />R.90W. 6th Prime Meridian, Gunnison County, Colorado. The proposed exploration area is <br />located south and east of the existing West Elk Mine as shown in Figure 1A. Location of the <br />proposed sites is also shown in Table 1. The site is within a current coal lease held by Mountain <br />Coal Company . The proposed exploration sites are within Sections 5, 8, and 9. Two of the four <br />sites will be drilled with helicopter transported equipment requiring no road construction and <br />minimal pad development. The remaining two sites are located adjacent to an existing road in the <br />Lick Creek drainage. Moderate site development will be required. The four Lions Mesa <br />exploration holes are designed to test the continuity of the E Seam coal and presence or absence <br />of outcrop coal alteration. <br />Surface Topography <br />The elevation of the proposed exploration area ranges from 7400 ft. in the drainage of Dry Fork <br />of Minnesota Creek and increases southeastward to 8400 ft. on Lions Mesa. The terrain is <br />comprised of moderate slopes and benches within the Wasatch and Mesa Verde Formations and <br />the alluvial slopes derived from the Dry Fork drainages. Dry Fork of Minnesota Creek drains <br />west and south into Minnesota Creek. Minnesota Creek in turn joins the North Fork of the <br />Gunnison River at the town of Paonia. <br /> <br />2