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structure and overburden of the Apache Seam is shown on Map 6A -Sheet 11 and Map 6A -Sheet <br />7, respectively. Prudent mine designs will be implemented to recover the Allen and Apache coal <br />resources within the proposed permit area. <br />The Maxwell Seam is located 25 to 50 feet above the Apache Seam (Map 6A -Sheet 14) <br />and has a thickness ranging from 1 to 5 feet (Map 6A -Sheet 2). The Maxwell Seam was <br />extracted in the Golden Eagle Mine which was a longwall operation. The seam thins westward <br />from the Golden Eagle towards the proposed permit area where it averages 2.5 feet thick. <br />However, some areas appear thick enough to mine. The structure and overburden of the <br />Maxwell Seam is shown on Map 6A -Sheet 10 and Map 6A -Sheet 6, respectively. <br />Potentially mineable coal occurs in the Blue Seam within the northern part of the <br />proposed permit area and occurs high above the Maxwell Seam in the Upper Coal Zone of the <br />Raton Formation. The thickness is shown on Map 6A -Sheet 1. The Apache to Blue Seam <br />interburden thickness is shown on Map 6A -Sheet 16. The structure and overburden of the Blue <br />Seam is shown on Map 6A -Sheet 9 and Map 6A -Sheet 5, respectively. <br />The rocks immediately above and below the seams consist of interbedded sandstone, <br />siltstone and mudstone. Lens - shaped, sandstone - filled, paleochannels occupy areas between the <br />seams and contribute to local zones of interburden thickening. Some of these paleochannels <br />locally overly coal seams producing sandstone top. The lithology below the Allen Seam, the <br />lowest coal seam to be mined, consists of alternating layers of mudstone, siltstone, sandstone and <br />very thin coal seams. <br />2.04.6 (3a) (ii) <br />Map 5 is a geologic map of the proposed permit area. Two geologic cross sections are <br />also included in this permit document to show the vertical and lateral distribution of the coal <br />seams (Map 7). Maps 6a Sheets 8 -12 are structure contour maps used to illustrate the strike and <br />dip of the coal seam within the proposed permit area. Within the proposed permit area the coal <br />seams strike N33 (327 on average and dip on average 2.2 degrees to the northeast. <br />2.04.6 (3a) (iii) <br />The coal seams within the proposed permit area are numerous but only a few achieve <br />thicknesses that are amenable to mining. Some coal seams are laterally continuous and have <br />been designated during the correlation process. These are in descending stratigraphic order: <br />Weston, Green, Loco, Blue, Yellow, Bing Canyon Upper, Bing Canyon Lower, Red, Maxwell, <br />Apache and Allen. Of these, both the Allen and Apache achieve thicknesses that are attractive <br />on a mining standpoint within the proposed permit area. The Maxwell and Blue have potential <br />in the northern part of the proposed permit area. The Green Seam thickness is good locally but <br />thins abruptly and often contains an abundance of partings. <br />The coal seams of interest commonly have rock partings consisting most often of <br />carbonaceous mudstone. The Red Seam contains a tonstein (volcanic ash parting), however it is <br />TR56 2.04 -11 d Revised 4/11 <br />