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Title: Fast track surface mine installation on the critical path

Journal Article · · Coal Min. Process.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5491242

A deep mining area, located in the rugged woodland hills of central West Virginia, was transformed into a beehive of activity as a major new mine and preparation plant was constructed on a very tight deadline. By the time the mine was on line, BethEnergy Mines had spent $40 million to develop the two million tpy (ton per year) surface coal mining complex. In early 1984 not a stick of timber had been cut. But within a very short time (coal-wise) there was a mining area; a 600-tph heavy media cyclone preparation plant, with 36,000 and 24,000 tons of raw and clean coal storage respectively; three miles of haul roads and access roads; a 64,000-ton clean coal stocking facility with a 4000-tph reclaim system that feeds a batch-weighing, floodloading, unit-train loadout facility; a 3.5-mile railroad spur and loop; and all incidental infrastructure. This feat entailed moving more than four million cu-yd of earth, building the preparation plant and loadout facility from ground to operating in six moths, and constructing a railroad spur bridging a major highway.

Research Organization:
Southern Div., BethEnergy Mines, Inc., Charleston, WV
OSTI ID:
5491242
Journal Information:
Coal Min. Process.; (United States), Vol. 23:7
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English