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Description of the Mine Operation Plan <br />Sizes of Permit Area, Disturbed Area, and Production Volumes <br />The permit area covers approximately 10,382 acres. Trapper is in the process of submitting a <br />permit revision to update the projected worst case year and total cumulative disturbance for this <br />permit term. The renewal submittal and adequacy responses provided the Division with the <br />conceptual plan and updated mining sequence for the next permit term (2013 — 2017). However, <br />the Division has stipulated the approval of the permit renewal (Stipulation No. 21) as indicated <br />on page 4 of this document. Total cumulative coal production over the life of Trapper mine is <br />projected to be a maximum of 74 million tons. <br />Mining Method <br />Coal is mined at the Trapper Mine using surface mining methods. Draglines are used to remove <br />overburden and interburden, while front -end loaders and haul trucks are used to remove the coal <br />seams. Trapper Mining, Inc. has historically oriented the pits north- south, parallel to the <br />downhill dip of the coal seams. PR -05 reoriented pits G, F and Z (East F -Pit) parallel with the <br />strike of the coal seams in an east -west direction. Strike line pits will progress from north to <br />south. Each successive pit cut is next to and parallel to the previous cut. When more than one <br />seam is recovered in a pit, partings are removed by dozer, or backhoe, or similar equipment if <br />thin; or by dragline, if thick. <br />The October 2006 landslide in the East Panel of Trapper Mine created a need for a change in <br />mining methods for the East Panel area, resulting in Permit Revision PR6. The K -Pit and L -Pit <br />(originally identified as G -Pit) were originally planned as dragline pits, consistent with Trapper's <br />historical mining method. Trapper conducted a geotechnical /mine planning study and concluded <br />that dragline mining will not be the only viable mining method for the K -Pit due to the relatively <br />steep dip of the coal seams and overburden. Trapper proposes to mine the K -Pit as a truck/loader <br />operation and with a dragline. A dragline will open the first pit in the K -Pit area along the upper <br />ridge. Dragline spoil was cast into the area of the Horse Gulch Fill. After the first cut, a <br />truck/loader fleet was used to continue excavation of the K -Pit. The truck /loader fleet was used <br />to strip the L seam and a dragline or dozer excavated to the R seam with a dipline orientation and <br />progressing into the L -Pit. Trapper selected this method based on safety considerations and <br />potential for recovering coal that would otherwise have been lost. Trapper believes the <br />truck/loader mining method will result in a reclaimed landform that meets the requirements of <br />approximate original contour, and provides for long -term stability of the area. <br />Strip Pits <br />Trapper will mine coal from the following four pits during the 2013 -2017 permit term: , <br />Ashmore East Pit, Kimber (K) Pit, and L (f.k.a. G Pit) Pit, . Pits advance generally southward. <br />Individual cuts in pits are as much as 6,000 ft. long. The maximum width of a cut is 200 feet. In <br />2002, D -Pit progressed to the point that it merged with E -Pit. This combination D/E -Pit is <br />approved for ash disposal. A (Ashmore) pit remains open for ash disposal (see description of ash <br />disposal below). <br />Trapper Mine 15 July 9, 2013 <br />