Dyno Nobel

Reclamation Advisory Memorandum

It is Dyno Nobel’s belief and vision to conduct all blasting operations in a safe and
productive manner. We have gladly spent a great deal of time and money to train our
blaster’s to be the best in the industry.

This letter is in regard to the blast on 12-13-08 that resulted on blasted material leaving
the permit area.

After talking to the blaster and the other parties involved in the planning for this blast
pattern, it appears there may have been some miscommunication on how far the blaster-
in-charge could cast the material from this shot and it still remain on permitted property.
The final depth to the coal seam was to be in the 60ft range, with this blast pattern having
a depth of 30ft. I feel like the blaster thought, wrongly so, that he could have the muck
pile moved a greater distance and still be in compliance with the boundary permit.

After reviewing the blast log and looking at the blast perimeters involved with this blast
pattern, there were a number of changes that could have been put into place that would
have lead to more desirable results. I do not feel the blaster was reckless or overly
negligent in his blast design, but that he didn’t take all the factors into consideration.
Knowing that this was indeed a control blast condition the following perimeters should
have been changed:

• With the only open face area in the direction of the off permit area, the blast
pattern size itself should have been smaller with the number of holes and length
reduced.

• I feel like for a control blast the outside row, having 15ft of ANFO in the
borehole, that it was overloaded for the conditions involved for this particular
blast. The outside row of holes needed to be decked to reduce the powder factor to
a more desirable range

• I feel like the timing of the shot was to fast between the outside row and the
second row, resulting in excessive movement toward the only open face, and thus
casting more unwanted material off permit.

Recommendations for blasting at Teco Coal CO.

• It is essential the the blaster-in-charge and mine management have good line of
communication so as to help achieve the proper results.
 • The outside row of holes needs to be decked to achieve the desired powder factor,
and thought must be given to the fact that several decks may be needed to reach
this goal.

• The borehole depths for all control blasts should remain in the 25ft range as to
better control the movement of the muckpile.

• The blast pattern needs to be limited to no more than 5 rows deep.

• When timing the blast there needs to be a minimum of 200 hundred ms between
the next to the last row and the last row of the blast pattern.

• As per Dyno S.O.P all shots MUST be videoed.

I feel like if these recommendation are followed along with industry standard best
practices as outline by the state of Kentucky, that blasting can take place without any
material leaving the permit area.

Dyno Nobel truly wants to conduct all our blasting to produce the desired results and to
protect all miners, the public, as well as the environment. And to help the customers
mining operation, move along safely and smoothly as possible.

Thanks and if I can be of any further assistance feel free to contact me.

Frank D. Sparks
Sr. Area Technical Manager