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<br />(Continued ftom page 2)
<br />actually had a.salutory effect, Leonazd said because it partially
<br />sealed the longwall from that side.
<br />Over the Feb. 3 weekend, drilling crews began sinking two
<br />holes to the mine. One will be used to inject carbon dioxide into
<br />the longwall area to smother the fire, Leonard said. The other will
<br />be used to inject C02 and to pump out methane.
<br />Western Fuels has retained mine fire expert Don Mitchell, who
<br />estimates that WFA should be able to extinguish the fire relati vet y
<br />quickly unless there is a major problem underground or the mine
<br />fan is knocked out of action, Leonard said. The rescue teams' two
<br />most likely courses of action are to go in with expanding foam if
<br />the fire is knocked down by the C02 or, if not, to establish a fresh
<br />air base about 1,000 feet Crom the fire and seal off the headgate
<br />until the fire goes out.
<br />While Leonard said WFA is optimistic that it will put out the
<br />fire and return the mine to production, it was in the process last
<br />week of lining up coal and wcks to supply Deseret's Bonanza
<br />power station. He said Western Fuels t:reneral Manager Fred
<br />Palmer has said that extra charges to Deseret will be kept as low
<br />as possible. WFA madea numbero(operatingchangesatDeserado
<br />last year to reduce its coal price m Deseret (I I-6-95 Coal Week.)
<br />KINDILL NEARS OLD BEN BUY;
<br />INDIANA MINES TO REOPEN
<br />Kindill Mining late last week was attempting to wrap up its long-
<br />rumored purchase of Zeigler Coal Holding's Old Ben No. 1 and
<br />2 surface mines in Pike County IN. Sources told Coaf Week a sale
<br />announcement was imminent, and, in fact, has been expected
<br />since late January.
<br />"Zeigler keeps backing (Kindill) up a tittle bit;'said a United
<br />M ine Workers of America official familiar with the negotiations.
<br />Nevertheless, the deal is expected to go through. Both Old Ben
<br />mines have been idled since last year.
<br />Wayne Parke, Kindill president and chief executive officer,
<br />was out of town on business and could not be reached for
<br />comment. Zeigler officials were unavailable for comment.
<br />However, UMWA officials told Coal Week a Kindill acquisi-
<br />tion of the two mines would lead to a reopening of Old Ben I,
<br />located near Petersburg, bymid-March. "No. 1 would go back in
<br />production bymid-March and there would be l00 people working
<br />Ihere," said one source. -
<br />Theimmediate future of Old Ben 2 was less clear, although the
<br />source noted that 7Jeigler/Old Ben has a small amount of reserves
<br />under permit that could be mined by Kindill. If Parke can sell the
<br />high-sulfur coal, he might want to return to "limited production"
<br />at No. 2 to generate some revenue to offset required mine
<br />rec]amalion costs.
<br />Late last year, Kindill acquired the idled Minnehaha surface
<br />mine in Sullivan Courtly IN from Cyprus Amax Coal Co. (12-I 1-
<br />95 Coal Week). Since then, the mine has been renamed Kindill
<br />No. 3 and has resumed production.
<br />THREE FIRMS RESPOND TO CROW REQUEST;
<br />TRIBE HAS 1-BILLION TONS OF MT RESERVES
<br />Kerr-McGee, Arch Mineral and Kennecott Energy have shown
<br />interest i n exploring reserves estimated at more than I billion tone
<br />of recoverable coal on the Crow Indian Tribe's property near
<br />Youngs Creek MT, Crow Energy Corp. secretary Stephen E.
<br />Bradley has told Coal Week..
<br />Other companies who were approached(8-2I-95 Coal Week):
<br />CONSOL, Pittsburg & Midway Coal, Peabody Holding, Cyprus
<br />Amax, Franklin Coal-Zeigler Coal, and Horizon Coal-Entech-
<br />MontanaPowerdeclinedthe offer. Anotherinvitee, Dennis Wash-
<br />ington Construction Co., did not respond, Bradley said.
<br />Bradley hopes that a proposal can be put on the Crow Trihal
<br />Council's Apri l agenda, or al the latest, on its July agenda. "We're
<br />talking with the (interested) companies and we're in negotiations
<br />to find out where they're coming from and what they want;'
<br />Bradley said.
<br />Arch has seemed to be the most i nterested, Brad ley said, noti ng
<br />Arch's "lack of positioni ng in [he Powder River Basin" However,
<br />Arch wants exclusive exploration rights, since the Council has
<br />asked for$500,000 in up-front money, and exclusive exploration
<br />rights are something the Council has indicated it will not give,
<br />Bradley said. The Tribe's short term impetus stems from congres-
<br />sional cutbacks in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' budget and the
<br />long-term need to create employment. by getting a unit up and
<br />working as soon as possible.
<br />The Tribe's position is to let all of the interested companies
<br />explore, although according to Bradley, "They're not going to
<br />find out anything that's not already available."
<br />Bradley said that the Tribe's coal holdings represent "one of
<br />the best that's left on this end of the PRB." He said, "There is a
<br />2,560-acre tract that has aone-to-one ratio, where you get a 100-
<br />foot ofoverburden to 100-foot of coal ratio" which will likely be
<br />developed first in order to make the project cost effective. In this
<br />tract, most of the coal contains about 9,2b0 Btu/1b., .OS percent
<br />sulfur (or lower), 3 percent sodium, 26-27 percent moisture.
<br />Considering exploration, permitting and construction times, a
<br />productive mine is probably ti-7 years away from realization,
<br />Bradley estimated.
<br />As is generally the case, transportation is a major issue in the
<br />development of the Youngs Creek tract. Bradley said the Tribe
<br />probably would rely on the Burlington Northern rather than the
<br />proposed Tongue River Railroad on the east bank of the Tongue
<br />River or an alternate proposal o(a spur on the west bank of the
<br />river to Colstrip.
<br />The Tongue River Railroad would help get the Crow coal to
<br />market by lopping off some miles. It would be a disadvantage in
<br />that BN now pays theTribe (or north and south movements across
<br />Crow land. "So what do you do -cut off one thumb to save the
<br />other?" Bradley wondered. The Tongue River Railroad could
<br />benefit thetribe in the future, "but until we have a working unit up
<br />it doesn't make any sense to support something like that; ' he said.
<br />The TRRR also has (aced severe opposition from environmental
<br />and railroad interests.
<br />As for the east bank spur route to Colstrip, Bradley said that a
<br />WestCo study concluded that the amount of earth that would have
<br />to be moved to create a reasonable grade would make such a
<br />venture economically unfeasible-
<br />TECHNOLOGY
<br />INDIANA GUARANTEES NOXSO BONb;
<br />SCRUBBER PROTECTS HIGH-SULFUR COAL
<br />Work is expected ro get under way by spring on an $81 million
<br />NOXSO Corp. advanced scrubber al Alcoa Aluminum's Warrick
<br />power plant now that the slate of Indiana has guaranteed a $40
<br />(Continued on pnge 4)
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