Governor calls reopened facility a shot in the arm to state, localeconomies.
By ANTHONY A. MESTAS | anthonym@chieftain.com | Posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 12:00 am
TRINIDAD — Standing in the shadow of thepicturesque Culebra Mountain Range west of town, Gov. JohnHickenlooper saw what officials say will become one of the world'smajor producers of coal.
Underneath the rugged Cherry Canyon on the Bosque del Oso StateWildlife Refuge Area sits tons of coal ready to be brought to thesurface.
The newly reopened New Elk Mine is doing just that.
On Monday, Hickenlooper and a small group of other state andlocal officials toured the mine, which began producing coal againin February.
"It's one thing to read about stuff in a report or see therelationship between, in this case, a wildlife area and a coalmine," Hickenlooper said under a giant track system shipping coalfrom a nearby mine shaft.
"You usually don't think of a coal mine going together withwildlife, yet in this case, it seems to be a natural coexistence.All the coal is coming out of the ground and all the wildlife is ontop."
Hickenlooper said it was important to visit the mine to get afirsthand look of this unusual combination.
The governor said the mine will have significant economicbenefits for Trinidad and the rest of the state.
"It makes the whole state stronger. What's good for Trinidad isgood for the state," he said.
New Elk officials said the underground mine employs about 340people with the potential to grow to 550 full-time employeesreceiving a base pay between $30 and $35 an hour.
"Those are good jobs no matter where they are. If they get alittle overtime, they are going to get paid a lot more than thegovernor," Hickenlooper said, drawing a laugh from employees.
Ron Thompson, mine manager, said about 45 percent of theemployees are from the area, with others coming from other parts ofColorado and from other states.
The governor said the mine also will generate royalty paymentsfor Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which owns surface and minerals atthe Bosque del Oso State Wildlife Refuge Area.
"The hills are crawling with wildlife yet we are able to stilltake metallurgical grade coal that somebody gets for 200-250 bucksa ton. That's a lot of money for coal."
Thompson said the mine is producing coal, but is not fullyoperational yet.
The mine is still working in an underground constructionphase.
"We are about 90 percent from being finished with construction,"he said.
The company still needs to construct more than 20 miles ofrailroad to Trinidad and to build ventilation shafts.
Thompson said the mine should be fully operational by March ofnext year.
"We are right on schedule. We've managed all the hurdles and weare getting to our goal," Thompson said.
Toronto-based Cline Mining Corp. purchased the mine in2009.
The company estimates that when fully operational, the mine willproduce 3.3 million tons of coal a year, roughly four trainloads aweek.
"We produced about 10,000 tons of coal last month. That puts usas one of the major producers worldwide," Thompson said.
Thompson anticipates that the mine will be producing about150,000 tons of coal a month by December.
The New Elk Mine was opened in 1951 by CF&I Steel Co. toprovide metallurgical coking coal for its blast furnace iron andsteel production plant in Pueblo.
In 1981, Wyoming Fuels purchased the mine and operated it until1989. The coal preparation plant continued operating with coal fromother nearby mines until 1996.
The mine will produce metallurgical coal, which is used to makesteel, primarily for export to Asian countries, including Japan,Korea and China.
"Obviously the world needs to make steel . . . I think there isgoing to be a market for this kind of coal for a long, long timeand in this particular case, the coal happens to be under a pieceof property that's owned by the state," Hickenlooper said.
Before touring the coal mine, Hickenlooper took a trip along thesteep canyons in the 30,000-acre Bosque del Oso State WildlifeRefuge Area.
"It's as beautiful country as you'll ever see and it is right ontop of a major coal mine," Hickenlooper said.
Bob Holder, district wildlife manager for the Trinidad WestDistrict, said the land is one of the premiere areas in the statefor hunting elk and has one of the largest elk herds in the state."It's a fabulous place," he said.
"This is the last portion of land when CF&I decided toliquidate their assets. This was the biggest asset that they hadand we have been working diligently for three decades to try andget some of this land," Holder said.
Hickenlooper said that he doesn't think that the mine in any waywill impair the quality of life for wild animals in theregion.
"We all use electricity, we all drive vehicles so we have to playour role in getting the energy, whether it's coal or natural gas.We all have to figure out how to get it safely and efficiently andin a way that it benefits the community around it. That's what theyare trying to do here."