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With the resurgence of the railroads in the late 80's, the production from CC&I's <br />Bessemer works increased dramatically, leading to the increased need for coal and <br />coke from the southern mines. Fear that the reserves at the EI Moro mine were <br />nearing exhaustion prompted CC&I to lease the mines at Gray Creek, five miles <br />distant, as a replacement. These workings were abandoned within a year as the coal <br />was found not to possess coking qualities up to EI Moro #2, later named the Berwind <br />mine for the third president of the company, the successor to Sprague. Edward J. <br />Berwind was formerly a prominent Pennsylvania coal operator. By this time, the <br />second furnace had been blown in at the Bessemer Works, this one called "Mary". <br />Another competitor for the county's coal resources, the Victor Coal and Coke <br />Company, opened a mine in the Canon del Agua, just north of Road Canyon, in <br />1888. Called the Hastings Mine, it was to have one of the most explosive histories in <br />Colorado. Ancillary to the mine was a string of coke ovens occupying the bottomland <br />in the broad valley. These coke ovens remain today and are clearly visible on the <br />north side of County Road 44 on the drive to the Trinidad Basin Mine. <br />The Trinidad Basin Mine was permitted and owned by Trinidad Basin Mining Inc. <br />(TBMI). The operation mined private coal on privately-owned surface using the <br />contour mining method. The mine began operations in 1977, under permits 77-2, 78- <br />145, and 79-53. Permit C-81-048 was originally approved on October 1, 1982 and the <br />permit was issued with 18 stipulations under the permanent Colorado Coal program. <br />Due to a number of violations issued and 1983 and 1984, in addition to cessation <br />orders issued in 1984, on November 14, 1984, the Colorado Mined Land <br />Reclamation Board suspended the permit and ordered reclamation of the site by July <br />31, 1985. <br />Permitting Revocation and Bond Forfeiture <br />The extended history leading to permit revocation and bond forfeiture at the Trinidad <br />Basin Mine is best represented in the Division's written findings regarding permit <br />revocation and subsequent bond forfeiture. These findings are as follows for both <br />permit revocation and bond forfeiture. <br />4 <br />Site of the Calumet Coal Mine in Huerfano County