2009-05-12_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981025

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Upland areas on both sides of the Roaring Fork Valley comprise parts of the White River National Forest. Most of the valley bottoms and sideslopes are under private ownership. The Roaring Fork Valley is a natural geographic corridor between Glenwood Springs, where the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers meet, and the town of Aspen, which is directly west of the Continental Divide. Within this corridor, State Highway 82 connects Glenwood Springs and Aspen, which are the county seats of Garfield and Pitkin Counties, respectively. Description of the Operation and Reclamation Plans The North Thompson Creek Mines are in permanent cessation, and reclamation is nearly complete. Past mining operations had been approved as being in compliance with the Rules and Regulations. A summary of past mining operations, and the current status of the reclamation plan, is presented below. Further details regarding past mining operations and the reclamation plan can be found in Sections 4.3 and 4.4, respectively, in Volume I of the PAP. Coal was extracted from three seams in the North Thompson Creek Mines. The A seam (No. 1 Mine) was mined first by the room-and-pillar method and subsequently by the longwall method. The pitch of the longwall is 26 degrees westerly. Some development extraction of the B seam was accomplished at the No. 1 Mine. Eight continuous mining machines were used in the Anderson seam (No. 3 Mine). Longwall techniques were not used in No. 3 Mine. Coal from both mines was conveyed to a central surge bin and breaker via two elevated conveyor systems. The office area, two coal storage silos, a wash plant, and a closed-system washwater recycling system were located adjacent to the breaker. Small amounts of coal were occasionally stockpiled next to the coal silos. Coal for the silos was transported by truck to the loadout truck dump via PCR 001 and GCR 108. The coal was then unloaded into a truck dump bin/60-ton hopper on the west side of the Roaring Fork River and subsequently conveyed by a conveyor belt over the river to a surge bin located adjacent to the railroad spur where coal was loaded directly into the cars. The coal refuse disposal area was located at the mine site about 1,500 feet east of the above- mentioned wash plant. Coal refuse from the wash plant system, as well as underground development waste, was disposed of at this location. On July 31, 1984, the North Thompson Creek Mines filed for temporary cessation of operations with the Division. Reclamation of the mine and loadout facilities involved two phases: an interim and a final phase. The interim reclamation phase was ongoing and was designed to add to stability and aesthetics during mining and to provide an opportunity for testing and improving revegetation techniques. The specified goals of interim reclamation at the mine site were to stabilize slopes and prevent erosion, improve wildlife habitat, and beautify the area. The interim plan at the mine site included incremental seeding of the refuse area as the pile was constructed. The first increment was seeded in 1979. North Thompson Creek C-1981-025 12 May 2009 Permit Renewal 05