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INTRODUCTION <br />This document is the decision package prepared by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining, and Safety (the "Division") for the New Elk Mine. This document includes <br />• a summary which includes a history of the review of the permit application, <br />• a description of the environment affected by the operation and a description of the mining <br />and reclamation plan; and <br />• the written findings of compliance the Division has made as required by the Colorado <br />Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. Detailed information concerning the findings of <br />compliance can be found in the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation <br />Board for Coal Mining. <br />The Division received an application for a permit renewal (RN-05) to continue to conduct <br />surface coal mining and reclamation operations at the New Elk Mine. New Elk Coal Company <br />LLC (NECC) submitted the application, and NECC will operate the mine. The mine is located <br />on private lands within Las Animas County, Colorado. The permit area covers approximately <br />900 acres. Due to the lack of a U.S. Public Land Survey of this area, the legal description of <br />the lands included within the permit area is a metes and bounds description, which is included <br />in Exhibit 34 of the permit application. <br />An approximate of the location of the permit area, assuming the sections are partially or fully <br />projected in T33S R68W, is as follows: <br />T33S R68W, Portions of Sections 13, 14, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 28. <br />The above-mentioned tracts of land are shown on the USGS 7.5 minute Quadrangle maps of <br />Vigil, Tercio and Stonewall. <br />PROPOSED DECISION <br />The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety proposes to approve an application <br />for renewal of a valid, existing permit. The application was submitted by New Elk Coal <br />Company for the New Elk Mine. This decision is based on a finding that the operation will <br />comply with all requirements of the Colorado State Program as found in the Colorado Surface <br />Coal Mining Reclamation Act, C.R.S. 34-33-101, et seq., and the Regulations promulgated <br />pursuant to the Act. If no request for a formal hearing is made within thirty (30) days of the <br />first publication of the issuance of this proposed decision, then this decision becomes final. <br />Upon submittal of acceptable additional bond (see Section A10.), the renewed permit will be <br />issued. The permit application, all supporting documentation and any stipulations or <br />conditions will become a binding part of the permit.