Laserfiche WebLink
economic factors, the mine officially shut down operations on December 31, 1995. <br />During 1996, all facilities were removed, backfilling and grading was completed, and the <br />disturbed areas were topsoiled, seeded and mulched. In July 2001, the parent <br />company ownership of BRI changed from Entech (Montana Power) to Colorado <br />Westmoreland, Inc. In March 2008, the permit was transferred from Colorado <br />Westmoreland to New Elk Coal Company, LLC. Mine-related activities continue to be <br />solely focused on reclamation, bond release, monitoring, and maintenance. <br />i <br />r <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />•+11W <br />Golden Eagle Mine, October 2002 <br />When the mine was operating, the majority of the mine facilities were located <br />immediately south of the highway and the Purgatoire River, near the mouth of Ciruela <br />Canyon. Two ventilation shafts, mine buildings, water tanks, portal, coal stockpiles, <br />conveyors, and a coal truck loadout were located in this area. A mine development <br />waste pile was also constructed at the mouth of Ciruela Canyon, immediately south of <br />the railroad right-of-way that crosses the permit area. Two other ventilation shafts were <br />located at remote areas away from the main facility. <br />During active mining operations, the mine used both continuous miners and a 600-foot <br />wide longwall mining machine to extract coal from the Maxwell seam. No longwall <br />mining occurred under Highway 12 or under the adjacent Purgatoire River alluvial valley <br />floor. However, development mining did occur in this area to allow access to reserves <br />to the north of the highway. Two complete longwall panels and a portion of a third <br />panel were mined north of the highway. Thirty-one mine drill holes and shafts that <br />penetrated the mine workings were converted to an industrial land use to allow for <br />methane gas extraction from the workings. This conversion allows for orderly gas <br />extraction without additional disturbance to the environment and allows development of <br />a resource that would otherwise go to waste. <br />The mine site is located in a plateau area, where elevations range from 7,000 - 7,600 <br />feet above mean sea level. Land use in the area consists of cropland and pastureland <br />on valley floors, with rangeland dominating the upland areas. Recently, development of <br />ranchettes and coal bed methane extraction has become an extended use of these