Attachment I-9
(A.)
The coals on and adjacent to the permit area are of the Pennsylvanian age and
include the Sewell and Beckley Seams. The Beckley seam, also known as the
War Creek seam, is approximately 300 feet below the Sewell seam in this area,
while the Pocahontas No. 3 is located approximately 500 to 600 feet below the
Beckley seam. The mining area lies south of the Guyandotte River and on the
ridge of the Pineville Anticline. Therefore the coal and the strata exhibit
a general dip southwest of the Pineville Anticline of south at approximately 0.5%.
This is atypical of the area of the mine on the northwest side of the Pineville
Anticline. The dip there is at west northwest at 1.7%. Stratigraphic correlations
suggest a minable coal height of good quality. The mine boundary passes through
the Pineville Anticline Ridge.
The Sewell seam lies in the New River Formation, approximately 300 feet above
the War Creek seam. The New River Formation occurs at the surface in
McDowell, Raleigh, and Wyoming Counties and in Southeastern Mingo County.
It occurs at the surface on both flanks of the Pineville Anti-Cline in McDowell
and Wyoming Counties and is confined to lower slopes and valleys in
Southeastern Mingo County. The information extends 860 feet to 1100 feet, from
the top of the Pocahontas Formation to the top of the Upper Nuttal Sandstone.
Except for the addition of a few conglomeratic sandstones, the lithology of the
New River Formation is nearly identical to that of the underlying Pocahontas
Formation. The Sewell seam exists in multiple benches in this area, however only
the upper split of +/- 30” is planned to be mined at this time. There are no plans at
this time to mine the coal in the lower split.
The coalbeds of the New River Formation as well as the Pocahontas Formation
are interbedded with sandstones, shales, siltstones, and underclays. The
sandstones are light gray, very fine to coarse-grained quartz, with large
proportions of white-weathering fieldspar, mica flakes and dark mineral grains.
The shales are medium to dark gray, thinly laminated and carbonaceous.
Horizontally laminated or cross bedded medium light gray siltstones and medium
gray clays to silty underclays occur in thin beds throughout both formations.
Sandstones of the New River formation are locally thicker, more massive and
more conglomeratic or quartzone than those of the Pocahontas Formation.
(B.)
Mining in several adjacent areas of the Sewell Seam is expected to have little or
no impact on the water table. Gravity discharge from one of these mines has been
collected and analyzed and appears to be of good quality. The results of this
analysis are included in Section J of this application. The Beckley seam has
not been mined. The underlying Pocahontas No. 3 seam has been first mined with
limited second mining beneath the permit area. Pillar mining is planned under a
limited area of the permit area in the Pocahontas No. 3 seam but is not expected to
affect the quantity nor quality of water on the permit because of the limited
second mining and the depth of the strata between the Pocahontas No. 3 and the
Beckley seams.
Refer to Section J for additional information.
(C.)
The distribution of the strata can best be explained and illustrated by reviewing
the geologic cross section (Attachment I-7). Generally speaking, the strata consist
primarily of sandstone and shale layers. The coal and other strata exhibit two
general dips of 1.7% to the west northwest and 0.5% southwest of the Pineville
anticline within the mining and surrounding area. There are no known faults,
folds, or fracture and lineament traces within the mining area.
(D.)
Samples of the Sewell seam split to be mined, the pavement of said seam, and the
overburden above it were by drilling a corehole and analyzed for acid-base
accounting. The results of this analysis indicate that there is little potential for
generating acid, alkaline or iron-laden drainage from the proposed operation. The
location at which these samples were taken has been identified on Attachment I-8
and the results of the analysis have been include in Attachment I-11
(E.)
Fracturing and weathering are present in varying degrees in shallow rocks
throughout the Appalachian Plateau. Adjacent to the mining area, weathering
appears to be limited to 10 to 20 feet deep mainly on the points and ridges. The
overburden samples collected did not indicate that the physical and/or
geochemical properties of the overburden had been impacted by weathering.
(F.)
Fracturing and weathering are invariably present in varying degrees in
shallow rocks throughout the Appalachian Plateau. Because an unfractured
stratum has very low permeability, fracturing affects the hydrologic regime by
controlling surface water flows. Fracturing and weathering affect the extraction
of coal by their influence on roof conditions and by controlling the rates of
groundwater inflow and outflow, dictating pumping requirements. If any
fractures do exist in the strata immediately above the Sewell seam, they will be
shallow to the point of being considered insignificant with respect to having any
impact on mining.
(G.)
Based on the results of the overburden analysis in Attachment 1-11, as well as the
information collected for the Baseline Surface and Ground water studies in
Section J, there should be no adverse impacts on the geology and hydrology of the
area.
(H.)
If the entire reserve area is mined in accordance with the approved plan, it is
unlikely that there will be a discharge from the proposed portals. Most of the
mining area is located downdip of the portals. It would be necessary to
accumulate over 24 feet of head in the lowest portions of the mining area before
water would discharge through the portals.