Mon Valley Coal Mine TESTPAGE

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Mon Valley Coal Mine is a proposed coal mine in Forward, Pennsylvania, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Mon Valley Coal Mine Forward, Pennsylvania, United States 40.2584, -79.905779 (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 Project Type Opening Year Closing Year
Proposed[1] Pre-Permit New 2027 (planned)

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.
Capacity (Mtpa) Production (Mtpa) Year of Production Mine Type Mining Method Mine Size (km2) Mine Depth (m) Workforce Size
1.8143694 Underground 3.96 373* 238

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
134[1] 2022[1] Appalachia Bituminous Met

Table 5: Ownership and Parent Company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Coronado Coal Coronado Global Australia

Background

Mon Valley Coal Mine is a proposed mine in Forward Township, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States.[2]

The Mon Valley Coal Mine Project is owned by Coronado Coal, a producer of metallurgical coal in Australia and Appalachia. The company is planning a mine, a coal preparation plant, and a rail and barge loading facility on its 979 acres of forest.[2]

Consol Energy previously owned the coal reserve, then known as the Pangburn-Shaner-Fallowfield reserve, and sold to Coronado Coal in 2016.[2]

According to Coronado’s company filings, work on the project began in 2019 but little has been discussed in public.

In materials submitted to Forward Township in February 2020, the company proposed a mine with a capacity of 2 million short tons of coal each year. The complex would cost around $250 million to develop.[2]

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company paused project work, including drilling core holes and other geotechnical efforts.[2]

Permitting

The company has secured an environmental permit for a refuse pile, but still needs state and federal environmental and safety permits. In addition, a large portion of the project land is zoned for conservation and for residential development, although there are no homes on it now. The coal company has asked that the township change its zoning ordinance by creating a coal mining overlay district.[2][3]

Citizen opposition

On August 18, 2021, the planning commission rebuffed the company's request to change the township’s zoning ordinance and recommended Forward’s board of supervisors reject the project. According to media reports, several hundred people attended the planning commission meeting at Elizabeth Forward Middle School and no one spoke in favor of the coal mine except for the company. Some local residents raised concerns that the fight was just beginning.[4]

Mine Data

  • Operator: Coronado Coal, LLC[2]
  • Sponsor: Coronado Group
  • Location: Forward Township, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States[2]
  • GPS coordinates: 40.2584, -79.905779[4]
  • Mine Status: Proposed[2]
  • Capacity: 2 million short tons (1.81 million metric tonnes)[2]
  • Reserves: 25 million tonnes[4]
  • Coal Type: Bituminous (Met)[2]
  • Mining Method: Underground[2]
  • Mine Size: 3.96km2[2]
  • No. of Employees: 238[4]
  • Start Year: 2027[2]
  • Development Costs: $250 million[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240216224511/https://coronadoglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2022-Proxy-Annual-Report.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Anya Litvak, The plan for a large underground mine in Allegheny County has been in the works for years. Now, it's getting its public debut, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 18, 2021.
  3. Coronado Global,SEC Report,2019
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Anya Litvak,'The people don't want it': Coal company's plan for large Allegheny County mine gets fiery response at first public meeting, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 20, 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