The Roundbottom surface mine in Pike County began operation in May 2010. This metallurgical quality coal operation consists of approximately 160,000 surface tons and 300,000 highwall miner tons and is expected to be mined over the next 18 months. The operation is expected to employ approximately 60 workers.
The Hurricane Branch Trace Fork mine in Virginia is expected to begin operation in July 2010. This metallurgical quality coal operation consists of approximately 115,000 surface tons and 180,000 highwall miner tons and is expected to be mined over the following 12 months. The operation is expected to employ approximately 50 workers.
On the steam coal side of the business, Massey Energy also said it would reactivate surface mine operations in Logan and Mingo counties, W.Va. These surface mine operations consist of approximately 4.4 million tons and are expected to employ approximately 270 workers. These surface and highwall miner operations are projected to produce approximately 1.3 million tons through the remainder of 2010.
The Camp Branch surface mine in Logan County was reactivated in April 2010. This steam coal operation consists of approximately 2.4 million surface and 95,000 highwall miner tons and is expected to be mined over the next 2.5 years. The operation is expected to employ more than 90 workers.
The Sandy Gap surface mine at the North Surface Operation in Logan and Mingo counties is expected to begin operation in June 2010. This steam coal operation consists of approximately 400,000 surface and 240,000 highwall miner tons and is expected to be mined over the next 1.5 years. The operation is expected to employ more than 60 workers.
The Highland surface mine in Logan County is expected to restart operation in July 2010. This steam coal operation consists of approximately 920,000 surface tons and 355,000 highwall miner tons and is expected to be mined over the next 1.2 years. The operation is expected to employ more than 120 workers.
The company said it expects to complete construction and restart operations at its Bandmill preparation plant in Logan County, W.Va., earlier than previously anticipated. The plant, which was destroyed during August 2009, is now expected to resume processing coal in September 2010. Upon completion of the construction, the redesigned plant will be renamed Zigmond Processing, after retired longtime Massey member Richard Zigmond. It will be a state-of-the-art prep plant. When fully operational, this heavy media vessel, heavy media cyclone, spiral and froth flotation facility will have raw feed capacity of 1,200 tons per hour. It will service four underground mines producing high quality metallurgical coal and two surface mines producing steam coal. The mines are all part of the company’s Logan County resource group. The facility will feature a new batch-weigh flood loadout that will be capable of loading 15,000 ton trains in four hours. Shipments from the direct ship loadout are expected to begin during the first half of August 2010 and the company expects the plant to be fully operational by mid-September 2010.
Massey Energy also announced it has received court approval to acquire approximately 8 million tons of metallurgical coal reserves in Washington County, Pa. Depending on permitting requirements and mining methods, the mineable reserves could increase. Massey also gained court approval to acquire related mining rights and the rights for joint use of an associated dock facility on the Monongahela River. As provided by the Court, all assets are to be acquired free and clear of all liabilities. The transaction is expected to close in June. With the acquisition, Massey will increase its total reserve holdings in Northern Appalachia to more than 117 million tons, almost all of which have metallurgical qualities.
