Coal Age

NOV 2015

Coal Age Magazine - For nearly 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.

Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/603417

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 17 of 59

Even with the surface mines, our focus is on the lower-cost opera- tions. We're trying to cut out any unnecessary expenditures we can find, cut down on infrastructure, any trucking that we can." So far, Knight Hawk has not been forced to lay off employees, unlike many other coal companies in the U.S. "We've never laid anyone off and we have no intention of lay- ing anybody off," Carter asserted. "We've tried to plan well enough t hat we've tried to match our personnel" with the available work. T he Prairie Eagle underground mine near Percy in Perry County remains the hub of the company's operations. The mine produced nearly 2.6 million tons of coal in the first three quarters of 2015, federal Mine Safety and Health Administration figures show. It is on track to reach or exceed 2014 production of 3.1 mil- lion tons. St. Louis-based Arch Coal Inc., one of the country's largest coal companies, owns a 49% stake in Knight Hawk. Kentucky PSC Report: Big Rivers Should Sell 2 Coal-burning Plants Big Rivers Electric Corp. should consider selling its Coleman and D.B. Wilson coal-burning power plants in western Kentucky over the next two to three years, even if it loses money in any transac- tion, according to an independent review released in October by the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC). Together, Coleman and Wilson account for more than 850 m egawatts of generating capacity. If they are sold, the Henderson, Kentucky-based generation and transmission co-op would be left with a single baseload coal plant — the 454-megawatt Robert D. Green station near Robards in northeastern Webster County. Big Rivers is in the process of installing pollution controls on Green's two units, built in 1979 and 1981, after the co-op earlier this year received a one-year extension until the spring of 2016 to comply with the federal Environmental Protection Agency's new n e w s c o n t i n u e d 16 www.coalage.com November 2015 Cordero Rojo Earns Federal Reclamation Honor Cloud Peak Energy's (CPE) Cordero Rojo surface complex in Wyoming has been given the 2015 Excellence in Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Award from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), its fourth in six years. The Powder River Basin (PRB) mine, the third largest coal operation by production in the U.S. in 2014, earned the recognition this year for its successful restoration of the Belle Fourche River. Through design and reconstruction, a portion of the river was relo- cated and the stream channel reclaimed in order to provide the same approximate conditions as those before mining began. The reclaimed stream channel is now stable from erosion and fea- tures abundant grass cover; aquatic life has also been restored, includ- ing fish and macro invertebrates. "This is a clear indication of the successful restoration of a stream to its original channel and its overall ecological health," CPE officials said, and company President and CEO Colin Marshall called the efforts made "exceptional." "Cloud Peak Energy has a strong record of using innovative approaches to successfully reclaim the land after mining is complete. That the federal government has recognized our mines with its highest honor in four of the last six years is a tremendous accomplishment." The award was presented at the National Mining Association's (NMA) awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on November 9. CPE previously earned the honor in 2009 (Spring Creek mine), 2010 (Antelope) and 2014 (Antelope); it also received the OSMRE Good Neighbor Award in 2012 for its efforts to support communities around their three mine operations. Winners of Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards Are Announced The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) announced the winners of the 2015 Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards, which honor the highest quality projects across the nation to reclaim abandoned coal mines. The Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards recognize outstanding abandoned mine land reclamation pro- jects carried out in the United States. The winners of the 2015 Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards are the National Award: Lake Valley Mine Safeguard Project, Lake Valley, Sierra Country, New Mexico, New Mexico Abandoned Mine Land Program; Small Project Award: Lightner/Boston Coal Mine Erosion Control Project, Durango, Colorado, Colorado Division of Reclamation Mine and Safety; Appalachian Region Award: Simpson Northeast Coal Refuse Fire Fell Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; and the Mid-Continent Award: AML Site 2052 Minnehaha Slurry Project, Sullivan County, Indiana, Indiana Department of Natural Resources. OSMRE presented the 2015 Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation awards at the annual conference of the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs in Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 27-30. Scholarship for Mining Given Out at ICGCM The 2015 Kazem Oraee Scholarship for Mining award ($5,000) to promote underground mining engineering and more specifically, the ground con- trol discipline, was presented at the International Conference on Ground Control in Mining (ICGCM) to Christopher Newman (WVU). He is working toward his doctorate degree at the University of Kentucky. 2 0 1 5 A W A R D S % Dr. Thomas Barczak and Dr. Stephen Tadolini, ICGCM co-chairman, present Christopher Newman (WVU) with the scholarship award.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Coal Age - NOV 2015