ml -- at $35/barrel they can make lots of diesel/gasoline from coal -- Hitler ran his tanks on the technology
and a great amount of the Powder River Basin Coal is owned by the US taxpayers ================
• “Deep in the heart of the high plains lie some of the nation’s richest and most coveted energy resources. Here, in Wyoming’s Southern Powder River Basin—one of the three major U.S. coal-producing regions—seams are as expansive as the sky itself. Nowhere else does America boast such an abundance of quality reserves, and nowhere else does America offer coal that’s in greater demand. In this region—where mammoth seams tower 100 feet high—Wyoming mines generate 25 percent of the nation’s billion-plus tonnage each year.” Source: Coal Operations, http://www.peabodygroup.com
• “Clean-burning and plentiful, Powder River coal is reliable fuel that helps keep the nation’s economy humming. Demand for these high-grade reserves continues to rise...Industry experts predict continued double-digit growth in PRB coal over the next several years, a need Peabody’s Powder River operations are prepared to fulfill.” Source: Coal Operations, http://www.peabodygroup.com
• “Peabody’s sales growth volume this decade [1990s] is more than six times greater that of the U.S. coal industry. Peabody is the largest low sulfur coal producer in the United States and is the largest producer from Wyoming’s coal-rich Powder River Basin, the fastest-growing U.S. coal region.” Source: 1999 annual report, http://www.peabodygroup.com
• “Peabody’s North Antelope/Rochelle Mine is the largest and most productive coal operation in the United States, serving the fastest growing U.S. customer base with the cleanest coal in America.” Source: 1999 annual report, http://www.peabodygroup.com
• “Peabody completed the acquisition of nearly 650 million tons of low sulfur reserves in Wyoming to expand mine life and lower costs at the North Antelope/Rochelle Mine. This follows a 297 million ton low sulfur reserve at Peabody’s nearby Caballo Mine in fiscal year 1998.” Source: 1999 annual report, http://www.peabodygroup.com
ARCH COAL - Company Profile:
Arch Coal is the nation’s second largest coal producer, with subsidiary operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Illinois, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. In June 1998, Arch purchased the Atlantic Richfield Company’s (ARCO) coal holdings for $1.14 billion, adding approximately 1.3 billion tons of low-sulfur coal to Arch’s reserve base—needed for the company to retain important Midwestern utility customers who have purchased coal from Arch’s Illinois Basin mines, but may switch to PRB coal when stricter air quality standards become effective this year.
The centerpiece of Arch’s western operations is the Black Thunder Mine in the southern PRB, where production is expected to exceed 60 million tons in 2000. Arch also operates the 12-million-ton-per-year Coal Creek mine.
On Oct. 1,1998, Arch significantly strengthened its position in the PRB with its successful bid (against Kennecott Energy) for the Thundercloud LBA, paying $1.58 million for the 412-million-ton coal lease (38.3 cents/ton).
ARCH COAL - What the company is saying:
• “With the ARCO acquisition, Arch Coal has substantially expanded its market reach. In 1998, we sold coal to virtually every major utility in the,United States....[Also,] we greatly expanded the slate of products we could offer to existing customers. As a result, we believe we are better prepared than our competitors to meet the needs of the utility industrywhen the Phase II standards of the Clean Air Act take effect....More than 98% of the roughly 110 million tons of coal we now produce on an annualized basis is low-sulfur coal or compliance quality.” Source: 1998 annual report, http://www.archcoal.com
• “In the coal business, success begins with high-quality reserves. The addition of the ARCO properties gives Arch what is arguably the industry’s premier reserve base of compliance-quality and low-sulfur coal. We now control 1.8 billion tons of compliance coal in the west and 1.4 billion tons of low-sulfur and compliance coal in the east.” Source: 1998 annual report, http://www.archcoal.com
• “In October [1998], we strengthened our, PRB holdings still further as the successful bidder for a federal coal tract known as Thundercloud. With its excellent geology, high-quality compliance coal and 412-million-ton reserve base, Thundercloud was one of the most valuable unleased coal tracts left in the PRB. More important…we can develop the new tract [Thundercloud] with our existing labor force and with minimal additional capital costs.” Source: 1998 annual report, http://www.archcoal.com
KENNECOTT ENERGY - Company Profile:
Kennecott Energy, part of the London-based Rio Tinto, is the fourth largest coal producer in North America and owns the rights to 1.6 billion tons of low-sulfur coal reserves. In the first three quarters of 1999, Kennecott produced 83 million tons of coal, with 78% coming from its southern PRB mines.
In 1998, Kennecott bought the Jacobsm Ranch Mine from the Kerr-McGee Corporation for $400 million. In 1999, to secure future production capacity at Jacobs Ranch, Kennecott agreed to pay Arch Coal $12 million in cash for a 35-million-ton portion of Arch’s Thundercloud lease.
In 1997, Kennecott’s Caballo Rojo and Cordero mines were merged into the Cordero Rojo complex. From 1997 to 1998, coal production from the complex increased from 28 to 37 million tons per year.
Kennecott’s Antelope Mine was originally conceived as a 12 million-ton-per-year mine in the early 1980s, but produced 19 million tons in 1998. The company is reportedly hoping to acquire the 357-million-ton Horse Creek lease to increase Antelope’s reserve base.
KENNECOTT ENERGY - What the company is saying:
• We look to the future with enthusiasm and confidence. In addition to variety of low sulfur and low ash coal products, Kennecott Energy has all the tools available, including a history of dependability and price competitiveness, to compete in the international market place. We will continue to develop our resources, technologies and transportation to support that goal.” Source: http://www.kenergy.com
• “The Cordero Rojo Complex, located in the Southern Powder River Basin near Gillette, Wyoming, is one of the largest and most productive coal mines i the United States. [The complex] controls some 12,268 acres of coal bearing land which it leases from Federal Bureau Land Management [sic]. Coal is mined from the Wyodak seam which averages 60-feet [sic] in thickness.” Source: http://www.kenergy.com
• “The remaining recoverable coal reserves in leases total in excess of 650 million tons. Current production from the Cordero Rojo Complex is 30 million tons per year, which is expandable to 45 million tons per year. It enables Cordero Rojo to quickly respond to increased coal demand with competitively priced fuel.” Source: http://www.kenergy.com
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