2013-04-11_REVISION - C1980007 (2)

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�= Mountain Coal Company April 08, 2013 Mr. James R. Stark Colorado Department of Natural Resources Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Denver, Colorado 80203 Dear Mr. Stark: Mountain Coal Company, LLC West Elk Mine P O Box 591 Somerset CO 81434 Kathleen G. Welt Environmental Engineer 111 kwelt @archcoal.com hone: 970 929 2238 R ECEIVED APR 1 1 2013 Division of Reclamation, Mining & Safety Re: Mountain Coal Company, LLC, West Elk Mine; Permit No. C- 1980 -007; Minor Revision No. MR -391: Phase 1B Buttress Rock Quarry Mountain Coal Company, LLC (MCC) submits this letter, location drawing and application form for Minor Revision No. MR -391 to quarry rock from two small sites for use in completing the Phase 1B RPEE buttress build -out. The sites are rock outcrops located adjacent to two former B seam methane drainage wells and will be accessed on the existing roads to those sites. MCC plans to construct the remaining portion of the Phase 1B RPEE buttress during the summer of 2013. Approximately 11,000 cubic yards of additional rock will be required to accomplish this task. MCC completed the modified Phase 1B buttress during the fall of 2012 by utilizing readily accessible and available loose rock on MCC's property. To obtain the remainder of the rock required for the Phase 1B buttress, it will be necessary to quarry the needed rock from sites on MCC's property where there is rock of a quality and quantity that can be used for this purpose. MCC has identified two such sites within 2 miles of the buttress (see the location drawing attached), adjacent to the RPEE to the east and south. MCC will drill and obtain core samples from the two sites by mid -May to confirm the quality of the rock at these sites and to determine if one or both sites will be needed to provide the rock for the Phase 1B buttress build -out. MCC proposes to access both sites by utilizing the existing drill roads that were constructed in 2006 to access B seam MDW sites. These sites have been kept open in subsequent years after mining in the event that MCC would need to re- access these wells to mitigate conditions in the mine. To access the sites with 10 -ton tandem trucks, MCC would need to add adequate berms for safe access to the quarry sites. It is not anticipated that additional disturbance would be required for road construction other than reestablishing the original road width. Once the roads have been established and the quarry sites identified, MCC would strip off up to one foot of available vegetative soil material (and considered as topsoil) and store the material in piles located nearby (see drawing for proposed storage areas). These "topsoil" piles will be marked with topsoil signs and sediment control provided with silt fence, straw wattles and similar materials. The piles will then be seeded with Mine Site Reclamation seed mix. Any subsoil that needs to be removed to access the rock will also be excavated and stored in separate