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upgradient to the southeast. Mining continued in the neck area, moving southward through the <br />eastern portion of Section 17. Mining was completed in Sections 19 and 20, in February of <br />2006. <br />The Wadge coal seam is overlain by 50 to 60 feet of sandstones, with interbedded shales and <br />siltstones. The thickness of the Wadge coal to be mined is 9 to 13 feet. The Wolf Creek coal <br />seam is overlain by 150 to 215 feet of sandstones, shales, siltstones, and thin coals. The Wolf <br />Creek seam, in the area to be mined, ranges from 12 to 18 feet in thickness. <br />Production rates at the mine for the operational period ranged from 137,000 tons per year to <br />1,031,330 tons per year. The mine operated through 2006, averaging 730,000 tons per year for a <br />total of 7.7 million tons of coal. <br />The mining process included clearing of vegetation, topsoil removal, overburden blasting and <br />removal, and coal blasting and removal. Reclamation was contemporaneous with mining, and <br />included backfilling, grading, topsoil redistribution, and reestablishment of vegetation. <br />Vegetation was cleared and either disposed of in the active pit, or placed on reclaimed areas for <br />use by wildlife as cover. <br />Topsoil was removed in advance of mining operations by scraper equipment, and was then <br />stockpiled or redistributed when possible. Stockpiles were temporarily stabilized with the <br />establishment of vegetation. <br />Overburden was blasted and removed with a dragline, then spoiled into the previous pit. The <br />initial box cut spoil was temporarily placed on an adjacent unmined area, and the spoil <br />subsequently double handled for placement back in the pit once the next pit was opened. <br />Coal was ripped or shot, removed by loader, and transported via Road A to the Hayden Station <br />power plant or to the Hayden Gulch Loadout facility. <br />No crushing, screening, or washing of coal occurred, and the operation did not produce coalmine <br />waste. Non-coal waste was disposed of offsite at an approved dumpsite. <br />Spoiled overburden was graded by bulldozers to approximate original contour. Several <br />drainages were reconstructed in the mined areas, as depicted on Exhibit 20-2 of the permit <br />application package. Topsoil was redistributed by scrapers to an average thickness of 1.8 feet. <br />The approved reclamation seed mix was then drill seeded in the fall of each year, unless topsoil <br />redistribution was completed in the spring. In that case, a cover crop was sown, followed by the <br />permanent mix the following fall. Concentrated islands of seeded and transplanted shrubs were <br />established on approximately five percent of the reclaimed area. <br />At the end of mining, all surface facilities were removed, the areas regraded, topsoil <br />redistributed, and revegetation accomplished as described above. Of the 848.6 acres disturbed <br />by mining, 821.1 acres have been regraded, topsoil has been replaced on 818.5 acres, and 809.8 <br />acres have been revegetated. Phase I bond release has been granted on 629.72 acres. The <br />Yoast Mine 16 December 15, 2010