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III IIIIIilllllll III 999 Somerset, Bear mines to e~e~vate production Marija Vader which runs more efficiently and Staff Writer 5 ~ could double the output of the mine. The Gunnison County Westbay said the planning Planning Commission will hold commission listed this change as public hearings on two Somerset miner impact because no surface area coal mines Feb. ]8 at the facililieswillbealtered. tountycourthouse. The planning commission The owners of the mines, rep- decided at its meeting that the resented by Jim Stover, hope to people and trains would cause roughly double the output of the most impact, so it will hold a one of the mines. Both Gunnison public hearing at ]]:15 a. m. on County as well as the Colorado Feb. 18. Division of Minerals and The Bear Mine Geology must approve the plan. The Bcar Mine doesn't hope The Gunnison Counfy Planning to increase production volume, Commission discussed the but rather time and the space it mines at its Jan. 7 meeting. mines. Both mines are less than two Stover asked the planning miles inside Gunnison County commission to extend the off the Della County line, so amount of time four more years according to Steve Westbay of and the area by two 40-acre see- the Gunnison County Planning ' lions. Nothing will change on ' e Office, most of the impaets aP Th~su~fac ; a~d The numb r o roads and housing will be in employees will remain constant. Delta County The planning commission The Somerset Mine agreed that the only issue would" The Somerset mine, currently be that the company will contin- producing some 750,000 tons of ue to truck the mineral through coal a year, seeks to increase town. Stover reassured the mm- ~production to 1.6 million tons. mission that there will be no Tre~Ca born Creek Mine would impact on two springs that run produce a .3 million tons, nearby. while 300,000 tons come "They want to grow under- from surrounding mines. round," Westbay said. "They entire region of mines is known wr a out of the same shafts as the Somerset Mine. there cu using" The mine management will This request came as a result add employees, up 25 to ]25, but of the mining company finding reserves the opportunity to hire more coal at the end of their per- asmany as 150 employees. Also, milted mining area. operators plan to increase the "They feel they onl y have number of trains pulling coal (our more years of coal left;' he out from ]20 to 160 per year. The said. mining company plans to add The Somerset public hearing two miles of conveyor belt to the will be Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. at the operation as well. Somerset Community Building. The mine management is The public hearing on the increasing production because it Eear Mine will Ix held Feb. ]8 at is retiring one of its processors 70:30 a.m. at the Gunnison and purchasing a new one, one ~~~ County Courthouse. ~~