2009-10-13_PERMIT FILE - C1991078A (3)

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~ III fII'll'lII'll'll Doc Date:1211112001 "~~ 2.05,2 OPERATION PLAN - ESTIMATED AREA FOR LIFE OF OPERATION (1) Production Methods and Equipment .~f The mining method to be employed is open pit strip mining. Wheel scrapers and track dozers or other rubber tired or tracked equipment will be used to handle topsoil and overburden material. The overburden material will require blasting. The overburden from the first pits along the outcrops will be temporarily placed off the coal. Overburden excavated from subsequent pits will be placed in adjacent mined out pits. The topsoil from approximately the first five to seven pits will be stripped and placed in a stockpile. Topsoil excavated from subsequent pits will be placed on backfilled and regraded pits to accomplish contemporaneous reclamation. Where possible and economically feasible the topsoil will be stockpiled near the site of the final pit opening for use in final pit closure. Coal will be loaded into highway type trucks with a rubber tired front end loader or other comparable loading equipment. The coal haulage trucks will transport the coal from the mine to the coal consumer via the county road to the south of the area to be mined. Up to sixty loaded coal trucks will travel the road each day. Up to 480,000 tons per year will be mined from the area. Assuming a 20 year mine life, 9,600,000 tons will be mined over the life of the operation. A 5-foot thick coal seam contains • approximately 7,500 tons per acre of recoverable coal. This means that about 1,280 acres of coal will actually be mined during the 20 year mine life. All economically recoverable coal will be mined from the approved mining areas. Economically recoverable coal is coal that can be mined and sold at a profit. General guidelines used by the industry to identify economically recoverable coal include stripping ratios less than 10:1 and individual coal seam thicknesses greater than 10 inches. (2) Operation Description The first five year permit area will include mining in the w/2 of Section 32 and the NW/4 of Section 4. The second five year permit area will complete mining in the area explained above and begin mining in the E/2 of Section 32. Because of coal quality considerations the mining in the E/2 of Section 32 may occur during the first five year permit term. The operation plan for the estimated area for the life of the operation is shown on The General Mine Plan Map, Drawing No. 114. This plan is presented to show, in general concept, where the applicant believes the mine, in years 6 through 20, will be developed. Coal exploration data for these areas is sketchy to nonexistent so this long range plan is really just a best guess. Coal market factors also impact long range plans. • 2.05-1 July 1992