Coal Age

APR 2014

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At the end of the hollow near the headwaters of Clear Creek in Greenbrier County, W.Va., sits one of America's newest prep plants. Last summer, South Fork Coal, a subsidiary of Xinergy, completed construction of the Clearco plant and began wash- ing the Sewell coal produced at its Blue Knob surface mine. Coal from the Sewell formation is considered a premium quali- ty mid-vol coking coal and it has been mined in this region near Rupert, W.Va., for more than 100 years. Greenbrier County is one of the more scenic parts of the Mountain State. Sitting at 3,800 ft, the installation's elevation above grade, compared to Hinton and the New River, is signifi- cant. The rail line that South Fork restored to give CSX access to its loadout runs parallel to prime trout fishing waters. On the ridge above the prep plant, 67 windmills generate electricity for a renewable energy startup. South Fork brought this property into production in a little more than two and a half years after acquiring the coal leases from a private owner. That's a remarkable achievement, consid- ering the time it takes to purchase equipment, hire capable peo- ple and build the infrastructure to support a mining operation, let alone the permitting process. For Bob Hypes, general manager, South Fork Coal, seeing the project become a reality has been one of the most rewarding experi- ences of his 30-year career as a project engineer. He began his min- ing career with an engineering group, before going into construction and eventually operations management. He recalls getting emotion- al when that first train arrived at the Clearco loadout. For the first year, he worked alone preparing to execute the project and he watched South Fork Coal move from concept to reality in less than three years. "In the coal world, that's hustling," Hypes said. Xinergy invested $20 million in the Clearco installation, which includes a prep plant, rail loadout and the rehabilitation of 8.5 miles of rail infrastructure. "Xinergy acquired the proper- ty in January 2011," Hypes said. "By the end of the year, we were moving overburden and continuing to drill the deposit and we quickly realized we were going to need a prep plant and a loadout to make this project a success." Hypes and his team turned to The Daniels Co., which evaluated the coal and pro- posed a plan. C o n s t r u c t i o n o n t h e C l e a r c o p r o j e c t b e g a n d u r i n g December 2012, which is not the most ideal time to start build- ing a prep plant, recalled Surendra Jain, president, The Daniels Co. During January, they were driving pile for foundations and South Fork shipped its first train August 21, 2013. Designing the Right Plant for the Application With a raw feed capacity of 300 tons per hour (tph), the Clearco plant is a relatively small plant. "The plan was to consis- tently produce a quality mid-vol coking coal, not to be a high-volume pro- ducer," Hypes said. "We have a specialty product. Our ash ranges from 2% to 6.5%, but our typical Sewell product is 6% ash." When the decision was made to construct a prep plant, South Fork reached April 2014 www.coalage.com 29 B Y S T E V E F I S C O R , E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F Automated plant balances ash specifications with fines recovery South Fork Commissions Clearco Plant s o u t h f o r k Constructed last year, the 300-ton-per-hour Clearco prep plant produces a premium quality mid-vol met coal. A scalping station prevents rock and tramp metal from entering the plant. CA_pg29-35_V4_CA_pg46-47 4/15/14 2:54 PM Page 29

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