Canyon Fuel Co. LLC has requested a modification to an existing air permit for its Skyline mining operation, said the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, which is taking comment until June 20 on its intention to approve this change.
The proposed modification would consist of: the installation of an additional tube stacker chute and associated coal conveyor extension: an increase in the truck haulage at each of the existing truck load-outs, and the conversion of the rail load-out, including an associated conveyor extension, to allow loading and haulage by truck in addition to railcars; and the removal of the 4 million tons per year coal throughput limits for each of the individual stockpiles.
Said the draft permit: “Coal shall be transferred only by enclosed conveyor. Inter-site truck haulage between the upper mine site and lower mine site may be used only during conveyor emergency periods. The direct offsite shipments by truck of coal and waste material combined total shall not exceed 8,000,000 tons per rolling 12-month period. The direct offsite shipments by truck of coal from each individual load-out shall not exceed 4,500,000 tons per rolling 12-month period.”
Also for this mine, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will at a June 17 auction offer for lease the Flat Canyon Tract in Sanpete County, which holds reserves for Skyline. The coal resources to be offered consist of all reserves recoverable by underground methods available in approximately 2,692.16 acres.
The coal beds contained in the Flat Canyon tract are under an average of 1,700 feet cover from the surface. The coal in the Flat Canyon tract has two economical coal beds; the Lower O’Conner B and the Flat Canyon beds. The minable portions of these coal beds are approximately 6 to 14 feet in thickness. The tract contains approximately 42 million tons of recoverable high-volatile B bituminous coal. The coal quality is based on an “as received basis” as follows: 12,400 Btu/lb, 5.8% moisture, 7.1% ash, 42.8% volatile matter, 43.8% fixed carbon and 0.5% sulfur.
Skyline is one of three Utah mines that Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) sold to Bowie Resource Partners LLC earlier this decade. U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration data shows that the mine produced 1.2 million tons in the first quarter of this year, 4.2 million tons in all of 2014 and 3.1 million tons in all of 2013.
