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10 www.coalage.com July 2016 news continued and sometime in 2020, Carlisle is predicted to resume its nor- mal production capacity of about 3.3 million tons a year. Bilsland said, "I think the majority of coal customers have high inventory levels," he observed. "That being said, we did make an additional sale during the [first] quarter, so there are customers out there that are buying. We also have modified agreements to help get customers in better inventory lev- els. People are working on pushing coal out to next year and beyond and trying to get themselves in a more comfortable spot." During the January-March period, Hallador/Sunrise pro- duced about 1.5 million tons and sold 1.62 million tons of coal at an average price of $46.53/ton. That compared with sales of 2.1 million tons at an average price of $45.23/ton a year ago and sales of 1.43 million tons at an average price of $45.92/ ton in the fourth quarter of 2015. For the remainder of 2016, Hallador projects an average sale price of about $43/ton. The company still has about 4.4 million tons of committed sales to ship. At this point, the company expects to sell between 4.17 million and 6.56 million tons in 2017 at an estimated average price of $42.87/ton. The company said it expects to continue selling a significant portion of its coal under supply agree- ments with terms of one year or longer. On March 22, Hallador purchased the Freelandville un- derground steam coal reserve totaling 14.2 million tons from Blackhawk Mining's Triad Mining subsidiary in southern In- diana for $18 million. A coal sales agreement that runs until late 2017 was included in the deal. Sunrise expects to mine the coal from its Oaktown No. 1 mine portal. The purchase also allows Sunrise to access another 1.6 million tons of its owned leased reserves that previously were inaccessible. Armstrong Energy Looks to Strengthen its Balance Sheet Illinois Basin steam coal producer Armstrong Energy, which closed its Parkway underground mine in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, at the end of June amid declining coal sales, disclosed in May it has retained a financial adviser to explore strategic options to strengthen its balance sheet and boost its long-term capital structure. Hord Armstrong, the St. Louis-based compa- ny's executive chairman, said Armstrong's board of directors authorized the hiring of Maeva Group LLC of White Plains, New York, to conduct the review process. He did not say how long the review would last and Armstrong does not expect to comment further or update the market with any additional information on the process until its board deems disclosure appropriate or necessary. During the January-March period, the company's Armstrong Coal subsidiary sold more than 1.4 million tons of high-sulfur coal at an average sale price of $42.44/ton, down from a little less than 2 million tons at an average sale price of $48.98/ton in the year-ago quarter. Cost of sales also declined, however, to $36.99/ ton in the first three months of 2016 compared with $40.08/ton a year earlier. Total revenue was $60.4 million in the latest quarter, a 37% decrease from $96.3 million in the first quarter of 2015. Armstrong recorded a net loss of $13.4 million in the quarter, a slight improvement from a net loss of $15.3 million in the first quarter of 2015. For the remainder of 2016, production costs are expected to be in the range of $36/ton to $36.50/ton. p e o p l e i n t h e n e w s m The chairman and chief executive of Birmingham-based Drummond Co. Inc., Garry Neil Drummond, died July 13. Drummond Co. Inc., Garry Neil Drummond, died July 13. He was 78. His father began Drummond Coal in Sipsey, Alabama, in 1935, and Garry Drummond began working Alabama, in 1935, and Garry Drummond began working in the mines in Walker County at age 15. He was named CEO in 1973 and had held the position ever since. Today, the family-owned Drummond has coal mines in Alabama and South America. It operates ABC Coke and a real es- tate division with developments in Alabama, California and Florida. Drummond also was a longtime trustee of the University of Alabama. The Mine Safety and Health Administration selected Dr. Michael Faughnan as the new superintendent of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy. He will be responsible for managing all of MSHA's activities at the Mine Academy, which is essential to improving health and safety training of MSHA inspector, and miners and operators. Erik Westman, professor of mining and minerals engineer- ing, has been named head of Virginia Tech's Department Virginia Tech's Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering in the College of En- gineering. Westman will lead the department of 11 faculty gineering. Westman will lead the department of 11 faculty members. Westman had served as interim department members. Westman had served as interim department members. Westman had served as interim department head since fall 2015, and during the two years prior to that, he was the interim associate dean for academic affairs for the College of Engineering. Ora Lee Johnson Kirk Ludwig passed away on May 21, 2016. She was born June 25, 1918, at Baker's Ridge in Morgan- town, West Virginia. Ludwig headed and helped found the Rosedale Coal Co., Mon-Valley Coal & Lumber Co., Mon-Valley Mining Co., and Steel Supply, over the course of her nearly 60-year career that began when she went to work for her dad at age 20. That was after she earned an associate degree in business from Mountain State College in Parkersburg. Her father, Thomas Jefferson Johnson, was president of Monongahela Valley Coal and Lumber Co., and the enterprise was faring pretty well, given that the Great Depression was still casting a big shadow over the Mountain State. When she got into administra- tion, she worked just as hard, learning the people-side of the operation. Edward John Onuscheck, 90, died Tuesday, June 14, 2016, at St. Andrew's Village in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He was born in Royal, Pennsylvania, on September 9, 1925. A World War II and the Korean War veteran, he worked for the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Co., where he was responsi- ble for all state and federal safety laws. He became the vice president of safety at R&P;, which during the 1980s became the largest coal company in Pennsylvania. He worked with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA) in Washington, D.C., where he was a member of their safety committee for 25 years. He was also a member of the American Mining Congress Safety Committee from 1972 to 1990, and was chairman of the PA Coal Association Safety Committee for 25 years. He received the coal industry's highest safety award in 1982, The Donald S. Kingery Memorial Award. industry's highest safety award in 1982, The Donald S. Kingery Memorial Award. industry's highest safety award in 1982, The Donald S. Kingery Memorial Award. Garry Neil Drummond Michael Faughnan Erik Westman Ora Lee Johnson Kirk Ludwig Edward John Onuscheck