The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection said in a May 25 public notice that it has gotten a mine permit application from the Eastern Associated Coal LLC unit of Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) for a new deep mine in Boone County.
The project, covered under permit #U500112, involves the surface disturbance of approximately 25.53 acres in order to face up a mine and construct related facilities in the #2 Gas seam of coal. The proposed operation is located 3.7 miles northwest of Kopperston in the Crook District of Boone County. The public notice marks the fact that this Jan. 10 application for the Gateway No. 3 room-and-pillar mine has been deemed as administratively complete, which means the blanks have been filled in properly and it can now get full processing.
Eastern Associated Coal had two other mine permit applications pending as of May 25.
- An application was filed Feb. 28 for the Eagle 6 room-and-pillar mine, which would work the Eagle coal seam at a site near Oceana in Boone County.
- There is also a September 2010 application for the Gateway No. 2 mine, a room-and-pillar job in the Matewan coal seam that would be located near Kopperston in Boone County.
Eastern Associated Coal has several mines in the active or non-active categories listed with the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. The ones counted as new deep mines with no production yet are Cazy Creek Portal, Winifrede 17, Winifrede 18, Campbell Creek No. 14 and Matewan No. 2. There is also one new surface mine with no production yet, called Huff Creek.
