Published: February 17, 2017 |

[Click image to enlarge]

Sheridan County hasn’t experienced active coal mining since the last coal operation ceased in the 1980s, though it was once a booming coal community peppered with company towns.

That may soon change.

Cloud Peak Energy, which operates the Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines in Campbell County, recently applied for a federal permit to enhance roads and a rail spur between the non-operational Youngs Creek north of Ranchester and the bustling Spring Creek mine in Montana. The construction will facilitate the moving of equipment, coal and personnel between the two mines.

The Gillette-based company is also awaiting review of a major revision to its permit to mine at Youngs Creek from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.

Meanwhile, the proposed Brook Mine, owned by Lexington, Kentucky-based Ramaco, is just south of Youngs Creek. It would be the first new coal operation in Wyoming in about 50 years.

When these mines will produce coal is still unclear. The Brook Mine’s permit is contested by local landowners, but the company had previously announced a plan to break ground by spring.

A spokesman for Cloud Peak said he could not comment on the company’s immediate intentions with Youngs Creek. If mining operations were to begin in the near future, it would be mentioned when Cloud Peak announces its 2016 earnings, and 2017 plans, on Wednesday, said Rick Curtsinger, spokesman for the company.

But some details are available from Cloud Peak’s application to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Mining development will impact two local waterways starting in 2020, and continuing operations will affect two streams between 2020 and 2046. Cleanup and reclamation efforts are slated to begin in 2051.

Youngs Creek would impact about 20 acres of wetlands, more than 11,000 feet of stream and temporarily divert a stream, according to the permit request to the Army Corps of Engineers.

What the Cloud Peak’s mine permit revision signals is harder to predict. This is not the first time the mine’s permit has gone through changes or been updated.

The site was first permitted to mine coal in 1976 before the federal mining law SMCRA existed, and before Wyoming had taken over the permitting and regulation of coal mining, said Kyle Wendtland, land quality administrator for the DEQ.

After an active period, mining was suspended at Youngs Creek between 1980 and 1993. Reclamation for the original operations was finished in 1996.

Cloud Peak acquired the permit when it bought the Youngs Creek Mining Company from Chevron for $300 million in 2012. The price included 450 million tons of in-place coal and 38,800 surface acres lying adjacent to the Montana border.

Since then, Cloud Peak has done exploratory drilling, conducted boundary revisions and updated its permits. It has yet to dig for coal.

The Youngs Creek story isn’t unusual in the area, which has experienced a number of active coal mining permits for mines that weren’t always mining coal. Below the ground are traces of the industry’s history in a patchwork of abandoned or shut-in mines and burning coal seams, said Mayor Allan Moore of Ranchester.

Moore said he wasn’t ready to bet on a coal resurgence in his county yet, though the revenue and potential employment would be a boon for the area.

“I don’t think, realistically, it’s going to be like it was in the past,” he said. “The rest of the state is complaining about the loss in mineral industries … Sheridan County took that hit when Big Horn Coal closed … we already went through the boom-bust cycle.”

The coal trains passing through town have diminished from 50 trains a day a few years ago to half that, he said.

It may be too soon to be thrilled by permit revisions for Youngs Creek, but it does speak to the dogged persistence of coal, said Travis Deti, president of the Wyoming Mining Association.

“I think it’s routine, but I think what people raise their eyebrows at is what we’ve seen the last few years in the industry,” he said. “It’s surprising that, yes, there is still coal activity going on this state. It hasn’t stopped. The market has been down. The industry has been down, but that activity is still going on because it’s a valuable resource and we need it.”

Source: (February 13, 2017) Casper Star-Tribune

Be in-the-know when you’re on-the-go!