Laserfiche WebLink
New Elk Mine <br />QUARTERLY COAL WASTE BANK INSPECTION REPORT RECEIVED <br />CDMR Rules 4.09.1 (111) and 4.10.2(2) OCT 2 7 2015 <br />Division of Reci ,,nation. <br />Mining & <br />Mine: NEW ELK <br />Waste Bank MSHA ID. No.: Primary Refuse Disposal Area (RDA) <br />Inspection Period: Third Quarter 2015 <br />Inspection Date: 9/30/2015 <br />General Description or Reference to Site Plan: <br />The Primary Refuse Disposal Area is located north of State Highway 12 and the Middle Fork of the <br />Purgatoire river. Refuse is transported by conveyor belt to the RDA from the coal preparation plant located <br />south of the river. The plant operated intermittantly during 2012 with temporary cessation of operations <br />announced effective July 11, 2012. The mine briefly returned to production May -September, 2014; but <br />returned to temporary cessation of mining in September 2014. Since then the mine has intermittantly <br />transport development wast from temporary starage piles to the RDA. <br />Activity During Inspection: <br />With both the Allen mine closed and the Bates mine in tempory cessation, the plant did not operate during <br />the third quarter with no plant refuse transported to the RDA. Trucking of Development Waste to the RDA <br />from two temporary stockpile areas in the mine yard south of Highway 12 continued through most of the third <br />quarter and now has been completed. <br />Drainage: (Discussion of springs. seeps, overland and channel flow, underdrain construction and/ <br />or discharge, integrity of 100 -year 24-hour drainage structures, and evidence of positive drainage). <br />No springs or seeps were observed on the refuse side slopes. Fall conditions prevailed <br />throughout the area. <br />Observation of Fill Construction: (Description of material, compaction, lift thicknesses, slopes, <br />and construction methods). <br />Refuse is placed in 1-2 foot lifts, allowed to dry and then compacted. Periodically CTL -Thompson, a <br />geotechnical engineering firm, evaluates refuse compaction. The permit requires and testing has <br />demonstrated that the operation have achieved in excess of the required 90% compaction. <br />Page 1 of i{ P <br />