2009-08-25_PERMIT FILE - C1991078A

• Permit No: C1991078A
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 8/25/2009
• Section_Exhibit Name: 2.04 Environmental Resources
• Media Type: D
• Archive: Yes

2.04.5 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HYDROLOGY AND GEOLOGY
• I1) The proposed mining area lies within the Colorado
Plateau phsiographic province, within the Paradox basin. The
basin is bordered by the Uncompahgre uplift to the northeast, a
remnant of an ancient mountain range, by the Manti-La Sal uplift
to the west and by the Four Corners uplift, including the San
Miguel mountains to the south and southeast. It is characterized
as a highly dissected area of mesas and canyons which are formed
primarily from crestal collapse features of salt anticlines.
This basin is drained by the Dolores and San Miguel Rivers, which
originate in the mountains to the south and east and drain gener-
ally north and west into the Colorado River.
The proposed mining site is situated atop a flat,
north sloping mesa that overlooks Naturita Creek and the San
Miguel River. The mesa is part of an extensive flat-land area,
which extends to the San Miguel Mountains to the southeast. The
area was formed from the resistant, Cretaceous-age Dakota Sand-
stone and Burrow Canyon Formation. The Dakota is the bedrock of
the mine area and contains the coal to be mined.
See Drawing Nos. 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 and 109
for geology. See the Hydrologic Area Map, Drawing No. 110 for
surface and ground water information. See section 2.04.6 for
geology. See Section 2.04.7 for surface and ground water infor-
mation.
•
2.04.6 GEOLOGY DESCRIPTION
(11 Surface Mining
The Nucla-Naturita Coal Field extends from Dolores
County northward to just south of the Colorado River, in Mesa
County. Throughout this large, highly dissected area (the
"Dakota coal sub-region" of Hornbaker and others, 1976), most of
the post-Dakota coal-bearing rocks, and even much of the Dakota
Sandstone itself, have been stripped away by erosion.
The permit and adjacent area is a part of the Nucla-
Naturita coal field and lies south of the San Miguel River. The
topography and geology of the permit and adjacent areas are shown
on the Outcrop and Geologic X-Section Location Map, Drawing No.
103. Geologic fence diagrams are shown on Geologic Section A-A
and Geologic Section B-B, Drawing Nos. 104 and 105 respectively.
The geologic studies are based on some 16 exploration
holes drilled from 1987 through 1990 and on various geologic
reports covering the area.
• 2.04-4 May 1991