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• <br />If you concur with this recommendation, please sign the attached memorandum to the Assistant <br />Secretary, Land and Minerals Management. <br />II. Background <br />2 <br />The Foidel Creek underground coal mine is located in Routt County, Colorado, <br />approximately twenty-two (22) miles southwest of the town of Steamboat Springs, <br />Colorado on State, private and Bureau of Land Management lands. The mine has been in <br />operation since 1983 and currently employs 560 people. The current life of the approved <br />mining operation within the approved permit area is estimated to be approximately four <br />(4) years. The mining operations use a combination of room and pillar and longwall <br />mining methods. The average production rate is approximately 9.0 million tons per year <br />from the Wadge coal seam and is approved to reach a maximum production rate of 12.0 <br />million tons per year. <br />The Federal leases cited below are as they were designated at the time of the mining plan <br />action. Over time, as a result of subsequent leasing actions the Bureau of Land <br />Management revised the designation for the leases. Federal lease C-16284 cited below <br />has been mined out and is no longer a part of Colorado State permit C-1982-056. <br />• The original mining plan for portions of Federal leases C-20900, C-081330, C-0128433, <br />C-16284 and D-0527547 at the Foidel Creek Mine was approved on January 16, 1987. <br />Since that approval, there have been five (5) mining plan modifications for the Foidel <br />Creek mine. <br />A mining plan modification for a portion of Federal lease C-53560 was approved on <br />February 10, 1994. A mining plan modification for portions of Federal leases C-081330, <br />COC-54608, and D-52547 was approved on June 14, 1996. A mining plan modification <br />for a portion of Federal lease COC-54608 was approved on June 1, 1998. A mining plan <br />modification for a portion of Federal lease COC-54608 was approved on August 2, 2000. <br />A mining plan modification for portions of Federal leases COC-20900 and COC-081330 <br />and new Federal lease COC-67514 was approved on June 9, 2009. <br />The State's current permit area covers 19,940.0 acres and 545.7 surface acres are currently <br />disturbed within the permit area. <br />A total of 16199 acres of Federal surface land, 6,090.0 acres of Federal coal and 10.3 <br />million tons of Federal coal remain within the current permit area. <br />The post mining land use within the currently approved mining plan area is pastureland, <br />rangeland and wildlife habitat. <br />