Leer South Coal Mine

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Leer South Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Grafton, West Virginia, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Leer South Coal Mine Grafton, West Virginia, United States 39.340035, -79.976191 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Operating 2021

Table 3: Operation details

Capacity (Mtpa) Production (Mtpa) Year of Production Mine Type Mining Method Mine Size (km2) Mine Depth (m) Workforce Size
2.521066281[1] 2023[1] Underground 105.2 167 493[1]

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt) Year of Total Reserves Recorded Total Resources (Mt) Coalfield Coal Type Coal Grade Primary Consumer/ Destination
66.6[2] 2022[2] Appalachia Bituminous Met

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Wolf Run Mining LLC[3] Arch Resources USA

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.

Background

Leer South coal mine is an underground mine, operated by Wolf Run Mining, LLC, a subsidiary of Arch Resources near Grafton, West Virginia, United States.[4]

The mine began operation in August 2021.[5] The was initially proposed with a 3 million short ton capacity,[4] but went into operation with a capacity of 4 million short tons.[5]

Financing

Arch Resources has set an overall budget for the Leer South mine of US$360 million-US$390 million.[6]

S&P Global has reported on how Arch has turned to the bond markets to help finance the project, with four recent issues: US$45.0 million in tax-exempt bonds through the West Virginia Economic Development Authority; a similar US$53.1 million offering in 2020; a US$54 million equipment financing facility in early 2020, and; a further US$135.0 million bond issue in October 2020.[7] Describing the 2020 US$53.1 million transaction as "a novel application of tax-exempt financing for the metallurgical coal industry," IJGlobal reports that Citi was the arranger of this bond issue.[8]

  • Owner: Wolf Run Mining, LLC[4]
  • Parent company: Arch Resources
  • Location: Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia, United States
  • GPS coordinates: 39.340035, -79.976191
  • Mine status: Operating
  • Start year: 2021[4]
  • Production: 4 million tons per year[4]
  • Mineable reserves:200 million tons[4]
  • Mine type: Underground[4]
  • Mining method: Longwall
  • Coal type: Bituminous (met coal)[4]
  • Mine size:26,000 acres
  • Mine depth: 550 feet

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20240213175031/https://www.msha.gov/data-and-reports/statistics/mine-employment-and-coal-production. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240213175107/https://filecache.investorroom.com/mr5ir_archrsc/98/ARCH%2520RESOURCES,%2520INC.%25202022%2520ANNUAL%2520REPORT.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. https://investor.archrsc.com/static-files/7c30dafc-987d-4800-8d6a-55f23ea4070f. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Arch Resources, Operations, Company Website, accessed July 13, 2020
  5. 5.0 5.1 Morgan Snook,US met coal miner Arch starts production at Leer South Longwell Mine, S&P Global, September 9, 2021
  6. Hector Forster, Arch Resources presses on with 2021 startup at Leer South met coal mine, S&P Global, Jul. 29, 2020
  7. Taylor Kuykendall, Shut off from conventional capital, US coal companies seek creative options, S&P Global, Jun. 2, 2021
  8. Arch Resources Bond Facility 2020, IJGlobal, accessed Jun. 10, 2021

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References