Coal Age

FEB 2016

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allurgical coal from some of the deepest and gassiest mines. Similar to Patriot, Walter Energy and its U.S. subsidiaries had filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Now ERP operates a total of six longwall mines, three mines in Alabama (four faces) and three in West Virginia. The company's Pinnacle mine is the only plow face operat- ing in the U.S. Bowie Resource Partners purchased the Twentymile longwall complex in Colorado from Peabody Energy. Although the Twentymile mine only produced 4.1 million tons in 2015, it is capable of producing 8 million tpy or more. Bowie now operates two longwall mines in Colorado and three longwall mines in Utah. In September 2015, the company said it would be scaling back production at its Bowie No. 2 mine near Paonia, Colorado, as a result of idling its longwall while it develops a new longwall panel and continues to evaluate the market. Bowie expects the new longwall panel to be fully developed by September 2016. During the summer of 2015, Alliance Resource Partners gained complete opera- tional and marketing control of Hamilton No. 1, formerly known as White Oak No. 1, from privately owned White Oak Resources. The mine near McLeansboro, Illinois, was commissioned three years ago and quickly ramped up to 5.8 million tons in 2015. This gives Alliance three longwalls including the two in West Virginia: Tunnel Ridge and Mountain View. In May 2015, Westmoreland Coal Co. pur- chased the San Juan mine in Farmington, New Mexico, from BHP Billiton and entered into a new long-term coal supply agree- ment with the owners of the San Juan Generating Station. The San Juan mine is one of America's leading longwall opera- tions. In 2014, it produced nearly 8.8 million tons of coal from a single face. The mine has also developed new technology and imple- mented ventilation techniques to remain competitive. In February 2015, Tronox Ltd. acquired FMC's Alkali Chemicals Division, which included the Westvaco longwall mine. Westvaco mines trona (or soda ash), which is a relatively soft rock that can be cut simi- lar to coal. By the Numbers With 13 faces, West Virginia remains the longwall leader, followed by Illinois (7), Pennsylvania (6) and Alabama (5). Looking at the numbers, the average U.S. longwall mine operating in coal produces 4.5 million tpy, compared to 4.4 million tpy in 2014. On average, it has a cutting height of 91.6 in., a panel width (or face length) of 1,215 ft, and a panel length of 11,935 ft. Last year, those numbers were 91.4 in., 1,228 ft and 12,117 ft, respectively. Thirteen longwall faces have face lengths of 1,500 ft or greater. A total of 16 longwalls operate in the Pittsburgh No. 8 seam. The maximum overburden on aver- age reaches 1,089 ft. Except for a few mines in Utah, most are developed with three entry gates. Using a 1,828-hp double-drum, ranging-arm shearer, they take a 39.7-in. cut. The average yield setting on the shield is 1,024 tons. All of the faces except for five are high voltage (4,160 volts). As far as extremes, the deepest longwall mine is CONSOL Energy's Buchanan mine in Virginia, operating at a depth of 2,000 ft. The Powhatan No. 6 mine in Ohio operates the longest face: 1,548 ft. At 22,500 ft, Signal Peak Energy's Bull Mountains mine in Montana has the longest panel. The West Elk mine in Colorado and the SUFCO mine in Utah are operating 2,805-hp shearers. u . s . l o n g w a l l c e n s u s c o n t i n u e d February 2016 www.coalage.com 19 Prod. Prod. % U.S. Longwall Mines 2015 2014 Change Foresight Energy Sugar Camp 10,587,790 9,097,628 16.4 Murray American Energy Marshall County 10,294,865 10,378,940 -0.8 CONSOL Energy Bailey 10,185,898 12,324,680 -17.4 CONSOL Energy Enlow Fork 8,999,294 10,556,826 -14.8 Alpha Natural Resources Cumberland 7,490,061 7,388,082 1.4 Murray American Energy Harrison County 7,106,441 6,703,392 6.0 Westmoreland Coal San Juan South 6,517,519 8,799,554 -25.9 Murray American Energy Marion County 6,481,620 6,567,666 -1.3 Signal Peak Energy Bull Mountains 6,419,645 7,901,784 -18.8 Murray American Energy Ohio County 6,081,768 6,584,921 -7.6 Bowie Resource Partners Sufco No. 1 6,024,483 6,539,322 -7.9 Alliance Resource Partners Tunnel Ridge 5,893,600 5,627,411 4.7 Alliance Resource Partners Hamilton County No. 1 5,815,950 1,736,928 234.8 Foresight Energy Mach Mining 5,638,291 6,482,276 -13.0 American Energy Corp. Century Mine 5,248,702 6,684,695 -21.5 AmCoal New Future 5,163,506 5,744,296 -10.1 Arch Coal West Elk 5,074,821 6,192,656 -18.1 Ohio Valley Coal Powhatan No. 6 4,756,028 4,696,014 1.3 Bowie Resource Partners Skyline 4,408,963 4,170,162 5.7 CONSOL Energy Buchanan 4,353,037 4,041,701 7.7 Bowie Resource Partners Twentymile 4,122,448 6,659,492 -38.1 CONSOL Energy Harvey 3,604,973 3,170,608 13.7 Arch Coal Leer 3,383,885 2,822,295 19.9 Murray American Energy Monongalia County 3,283,522 4,579,784 -28.3 Pacific Minerals Bridger 3,090,175 3,369,731 -8.3 AmCoal New Era 3,060,480 5,509,709 -44.5 Seminole Coal Resources Blue Creek No. 7 3,035,681 5,226,007 -41.9 ERP Compliant Fuels Federal No. 2 2,441,623 2,866,980 -14.8 Seminole Coal Resources Blue Creek No. 4 2,416,556 2,720,653 -11.2 Seneca Coal Resources Pinnacle No. 50 2,406,437 2,747,256 -12.4 Alliance Resource Partners Mountain View 2,108,354 1,920,877 9.8 Blue Mountain Energy Deserado 2,106,265 1,882,024 11.9 Drummond Co. Inc. Shoal Creek 2,043,184 1,803,117 13.3 Seneca Coal Resources Oak Grove 1,982,503 2,331,168 -15.0 Arch Coal Mountaineer II 1,923,968 1,972,772 -2.5 Foresight Energy Deer Run 1,876,828 5,564,836 -66.3 ERP Compliant Fuels American Eagle 1,859,734 2,732,344 -31.9 Alpha Natural Resources Emerald No. 1 1,689,471 3,951,247 -57.2 UtahAmerican Energy West Ridge 1,579,642 2,513,571 -37.2 Bowie Resource Partners Bowie No. 2 1,023,031 2,407,598 -57.5 Total U.S. Longwall Production 181,581,042 207,060,161 -12.3 Table 2—Longwall Coal Production (2014-2015) Note: Production figures for 2014 included a little more than 2 million tons from the now-closed Deer Creek mine in Utah. Source: Mine Safety and Health Administration.

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