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56 www.coalage.com June 2016 operating ideas A Soaring Future Earlier this year, the Interstate Mining Compact Commission (IMCC) handed down its newest National Reclamation Award to Alpha Natural Resources' Para- mont Coal for work completed on thou- sands of acres at the Hawks Nest surface reclamation project in Buchanan County, Virginia. The award, which Alpha officials re- ceived at the IMCC annual meeting in Lake Placid, New York, earlier this year, was the result of a laborious but immaculately planned yearslong project by Alpha as well as the Buchanan County Industrial Devel- opment Authority (IDA). What began as a five-acre pre-law surface operation has grown to more than 1,200 acres of recla- mation, nearly all of which has been com- pleted to date. First production at Hawks Nest, lo- cated near Grundy, began in April 2004 and wrapped in April 2011; at its peak, the mine's payroll was 78. According to Maxxim Shared Services Senior Engineer Jackie Ball, the operation produced 15 million bank cubic yards (BCY) with coal totaling 600,000 tons. Hawks Nest's equipment fleet at top oper- ations included two Caterpillar 993K wheel loaders, Cat 785 rock trucks and four Cat D11 dozers. "Once mining started, we continued mining until the project was completed in 2011," he noted, adding that there was an adjacent permit previously mined by an- other company. "[Our] reclamation was an ongoing process during mining [and rem- ining of the prior areas]. We tried to keep the reclamation as tight to the active oper- ation as possible." Alpha first inked its contract with the IDA in 2006 to enlarge their Phase II devel- opment site by approximately 600 acres, making the full site more than 1,100 acres. Two years later and just a year after launch- ing a feasibility study, the producer teamed up with the Virginia Department of Trans- portation (V-DOT) to construct the initial two miles of the state's Coalfields Express- way, also known as the CFX, which was in- tegrated into the Hawks Nest mining plan. Final reclamation wrapped in 2011, and the current Hawks Nest development has a business park, Southern Gap, with industrial and business sites as well as a growing residential area (about 600 homes at completion). Recreation areas such as the Poplar Gap community park, athletic fields, and a large playground and gym- nasium are also at the site. Ball noted that, during mining on the Hawks Nest permit, Alpha was able to eliminate approximately 12 miles of pre-law highwall. The Hawks Nest reclamation site near Grundy, Buchanan County, Virginia, restored many aspects of the land, including stream and tree life, and has grown to include recreational, residential and commercial development. by donna schmidt, field editor Alpha's Hawks Nest mine exemplifies multiuse reclamation success Part of Hawks Nest pre-reclamation. At its peak, the surface mine produced 15 million bank cubic yards (BCY) with coal totaling 600,000 tons.