New Elk Mine

{{#Badges: CoalSwarm}}The New Elk Mine is located in Las Animas County, Colorado, operated by New Elk Coal and owned by Canada based Cline Mining Corporation. As of June 2010, the mine was under rehabilitation. First production at the mine is set for the latter fiscal quarter of 2010. The company stated that they have a long running operation in Southern Colorado and their coal primary is sold to the steel industry.

Cline is projecting coal production of 1.2 million tonnes for 2011, rising to 2.6 million in 2012 and 3 million tonnes in 2013. Management has stated that they want to fast track Cline into a 10 million tonne per year producer of coal.

New Elk Coal Mine has a mineral resource estimate of 315 million tons of coal in-place (87.6 million tons Measured and 227.4 million tons Indicated). The New Elk Mine Project encompasses 6,118 acres, along with an additional 20,763 acres, some of which are under lease from the State of Colorado, other entities, and Bureau of Land Management lease applications. The Project includes both the New Elk and Golden Eagle underground coal mines, and a coal preparation plant, product coal silos, buildings, surface real estate, conveyor systems, electrics, underground workings with mine portal access from the plant site, mine permit and a permitted coal refuse disposal site, and about 13 miles of railroad right-of-way from the mine site toward the town of Trinidad.

History

The New Elk Mine commenced production of coal in 1953 and supplied coking coal to the CF&I Steel Company and to Wyoming Fuels until 1989. The mine was placed on care and maintenance in 1996 after CF&I Steel switched to using electric arc at its blast furnaces during the late eighties.

New Elk Enters Agreement with Port of Corpus Christi for exports

In February 2011, it was announced that New Elk Coal had entered into an arrangement with the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas for a long-term lease of 18 acres of land that will serve as a coal storage area, adjacent to the shipping channel and proximate to the bulk coal ship-loader, to provide New Elk with immediate access to export coal markets for its metallurgical coal. The property lease was effective February 8, 2011 for an initial five-year lease, with the option to extend the lease for five additional periods of five years. The facility is capable of exporting 2 million tons per year (tpy) and additional storage area is available to the company at the port to accommodate future mine production schedules. The port will ship coal from the New Elk Mine.

According to Coal Age: "The port of Corpus Christi is strategically placed for the export of coal worldwide, including Europe and Brazil on the Atlantic side, and Asia through the Panama Canal. The Port can accommodate seagoing vessels capable of carrying up to 70,000 tons of coal. The port delivers access to overland transportation with on-site and direct connections to three Class I railroads and uncongested interstate and state highways."

Mine Data

• Owner: New Elk Coal
• Parent company: Cline Mining Corporation
• Location: Las Animas County, Colorado
• GPS coordinates:
• Production: Projected production rate - 3 million tonnes per year
• Type of coal: Metallurgical coking coal
• Mine type: Underground
• Equipment:
• Number of employees:

Articles and resources

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• Existing U.S. Coal Plants
• Coal

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External links

• "Major U.S. Coal Mines," Energy Information Administration
• Randy Litwiller, "WildEarth Guardians cry fire in a crowded coal mine", Delta County Independent, February 4, 2009.
• Jeremy Nichols, "OpEd Piece on Elk Creek Mine", Delta County Independent, February 25, 2009.