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C- 1981 -022
<br />PR -7 Findings
<br />October 4, 2012
<br />The permit was transferred from Oxbow Carbon & Minerals, Inc. to Oxbow Mining, Inc. on
<br />January 23, 1998 with Succession of Operator No. 4 (SO -04).
<br />Oxbow Mining, Inc. submitted an application for permit renewal (RN -03) on March 13, 1998.
<br />The submittal was called complete by the Division on March 23, 1998, thereby securing the right
<br />of successive renewal for the Sanborn Creek Mine. The Division's adequacy review letter was
<br />dated July 30, 1999. Because the operator chose to rewrite and reorganize the entire Sanborn
<br />Creek Mine permit application, it was decided to separate the permit application reorganization
<br />effort from the permit renewal process. Since the permit renewal adequacy questions were more
<br />pertinent to the reorganization, rather than to the permit renewal itself, the OMI responses to the
<br />permit renewal adequacy review questions were submitted in a new Permit Revision No. 4. RN-
<br />03 was approved on September 25, 2000.
<br />Permit Revision No. 4 (PR -04) was submitted September 5, 2000, and called complete
<br />September 15, 2000. DMG issued the decision on January 9, 2002. Because of computer
<br />problems with the Department of the Interior, the final AVS check was not accomplished until
<br />January 16, 2002. During the review of PR -04, the Division conducted a complete bond
<br />inspection of the mine and recalculated the reclamation bond liability at $3,117,145.00.
<br />On September 19, 2001, Oxbow Mining, Inc., initiated the process of transferring the coal permit
<br />from that entity to Oxbow Elk Creek, LLC, and then to Oxbow Mining, LLC ( OMLLC). This
<br />transfer of permit (SO -05) received approval on October 22, 2001. No comments were received,
<br />and the transfer became effective November 20, 2001.
<br />OMLLC submitted an application for Permit Revision No. 5 (PR -05), received by the Division
<br />on February 15, 2003, to revise the Elk Creek Mine longwall plan and add a 160 -acre lease
<br />modification to accommodate a reorientation of the longwall panels. The area of the lease
<br />modification was within the approved permit area. The application was initially found
<br />incomplete because the package did not contain information on the possible effects of subsidence
<br />on groundwater and surface water hydrology. Additional information was submitted and the
<br />application was called complete on August 1, 2002. Upon the submission of a revised D -seam
<br />subsidence report for the amended longwall orientation, PR -05 was approved on January 20,
<br />2003. The federal mine plan approval was signed June 23, 2003 for mining in the D -seam.
<br />OMLLC submitted an application for permit renewal (RN -04) on February 21, 2003. The
<br />submittal was called complete by the Division on March 3, 2003, thereby securing the right of
<br />successive renewal for the Sanborn Creek Mine. A preliminary adequacy letter was sent to
<br />Oxbow Mining LLC on March 10, 2003. Oxbow submitted materials to satisfy stipulations 25
<br />and 34. A complete bond inspection was performed and the bond liability was confirmed as
<br />$3,117,045.00. RN -04 was approved on October 3, 2003.
<br />On January 11, 2008, the Division notified Oxbow Mining, LLC of the impending permit
<br />renewal (RN -05) and the need to file a complete application by April 14, 2008. OMLLC
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