Maybe this will help show Sydney how it's done for real?
Major Coal Shipper Helps Develop Illinois Mine
John D. Boyd | Sep 23, 2011 6:34PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story
Class I Railroads| Rail Shippers| Rail + Intermodal| United States
Alliance's $525 million investment in mine will generate up to 6.5 million tons of shipments
Coal producer Alliance Resource Partners’s up to $525 million investment in a Southern Illinois mine being will generate shipments of 6 to 6.5 million tons annually
Alliance officials said operations from the mine near McLeansboro, Ill., will immediately increase the company's coal reserves by 100 million tons, and eventually by twice that amount. Part of Alliance's investment will got toward building railcar loading facilties.
Alliance, the fourth-largest U.S. coal shipper, is partnering with White Oak Resources, which already has a permit and is starting to develop the Illinois mine.
Alliance officials said the deal also would help them ship more coal into export markets, and that between one-third and half of coal mined at the McCleansboro site could go to export. It could ship both by rail and barge, company officials told analysts in a conference call.
The large new coal investment comes the same week that two large North American coal shippers cut their output estimates for the rest of this year. That was followed Wednesday by a sharp drop in railroad stock prices, with the biggest hit that day to shares of eastern rail giants CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway.
Alliance said it will put $400 million to $515 million into the venture. That includes up to $110 million to build Alliance’s coal handling, preparation, rail and loading facilities, and another $140 million to support White Oak’s mine operations. It will also invest $150 million to $275 million to get a preferred equity interest in White Oak.
In return, Alliance said it has initially acquired 100 million tons of coal reserves from the mine, which it will lease back to White Oak for royalties, and will later acquire another 100 million tons that will be developed at there. Alliance already has Illinois Basin and Appalachian coal operations with nine active mines in five states and is building others.
AI
