The Belle Ayr mine is a coal mine located 18 miles southeast of

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Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

in the United States in the coal-rich Powder River Basin. The mine is an

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

, "truck and shovel", mine producing a low-sulfur, sub-bituminous coal from the Wyodak-Anderson seam that is used for domestic energy generation. Coal produced by the mine is shipped to its customers via

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. The mine is owned and operated by

Blackjewel LLC Blackjewel LLC is an American energy company which held a significant portion of the coal mines in the United States. The company became of national importance after its 2019 bankruptcy filling and liquidation. In 2021, a federal bankruptcy judge ru ...

after being acquired from Contura energy in 2017.https://investors.conturaenergy.com/files/doc_news/2017/News-Release-Contura-PRB-Asset-Sale-Announcement-12.11.17.pdf As of 2009, Belle Ayr had reserves of 406 mm tons of sub-bituminous coal and a maximum permitted production capacity of 45mm tons per year. Typical annual production has been in 26-28mm ton range for the last several years though. The average quality of the coal shipped from Belle Ayr is 8,550 BTU/lb, 0.33% Sulfur, 4.50% Ash, and 1.90% Sodium (of the ash). Train loading operations at the mine are done with a batch weigh bin system that is coupled to a "weigh-in-motion" track scale system. Silo capacity at the mine's rail loop, which can accommodate up to 5 unit trains, is 46,000 tons. In 2008, the mine produced just over 28.7 million

short ton The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton, although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton. The vari ...

s of coal, making it the 7th-most productive coal mine in the United States.

History

The Belle Ayr Mine began operations in 1972 and is the oldest, non-captive mine in the Powder River Basin. Since mining operations began, the mine has shipped over 574 million tons of coal to its customers. The Belle Ayr mine has changed hands many times through mergers and sales. Previous owners include AMAX, Cyprus AMAX, RAG, and Foundation Coal. In 2007, Belle Ayr was awarded a Director's Award from the Office of Surface Mining for its

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

work on Caballo Creek, which winds its way through the Belle Ayr Mine property. On July 1, 2019, CEO Jeffery Hoop announced that Blackjewel LLC, the operator of Belle Ayr had filed for bankruptcy and closed the mine. According to the

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, court documents show that Blackjewel owes $500 million in liabilities, including $6 million to employees. This was after Blackjewel was denied $20 million in financing by the United Bank of West Virginia.

Production

References

Mines in Campbell County, Wyoming Mines in Wyoming Coal mines in the United States {{energy-stub