Clinch Resources Expands Extraction Methodology With Acquisition of Highwall Miner, W.Va.
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Clinch Resources has made the acquisition and delivery of its first Caterpillar HW 300 Highwall Miner (HWM) to its Lanes Branch surface operation in Brenton, W.Va., with a second unit scheduled for delivery in the coming months.
The addition of highwall mining capability represents significant expansion of the company’s extraction methodology at its ARI project, each HWM is targeted to produce approximately 180,000 clean tons of metallurgical coal per year once fully operational. The company’s targeted cash cost per clean ton produced for this unit is sub-$60.
“The acquisition of our first Caterpillar HW 300 Highwall Miner marks another meaningful step in building out our operational platform at ARI,” said Jon Nix, chief executive officer of Clinch Resources.
“These units allow us to efficiently access high-quality coking coal reserves across our 54,000-acre footprint that are ideally suited to highwall mining techniques. With one unit, and a second in the coming months, we are adding a low-capital, high-return production stream that strengthens our overall volume profile and reinforces our path toward becoming a significant low-cost Central Appalachian met coal producer,” added Nix.
Highwall mining is a highly efficient, surface-based extraction method that recovers coal from exposed seam faces without requiring underground access. The Caterpillar HW 300 Highwall Miner unit will be deployed across Clinch’s ARI project footprint in southern West Virginia, complementing the company’s existing operations at the Lanes Branch property and targeting coal resources that would otherwise be uneconomic to recover through conventional methods.
Clinch Resources is a Tennessee-based metallurgical mining company with its corporate office located in Knoxville, Tennessee and operations in West Virginia. The company will supply high-quality coking coal to steel-based manufacturing facilities both domestically and seaborn for critical global infrastructure. Clinch is currently opening its first two mines.
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