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United States Mining

Coal country unruffled by strip mining in flourishing Egypt Valley – by Geoff Williams (America AlJazeera – October 26, 2015)

http://america.aljazeera.com/

Despite blow to Ohio wildlife, locals see environmental upside, are more concerned with fracking in their backyards

PIEDMONT, Ohio — The Egypt Valley Wildlife Area is a tribute to what can happen after land is strip-mined of its coal and restored to nature. The area, state-owned land in eastern Ohio, is 18,011 acres of rolling hills, wetlands and grasslands. There is the 2,270-acre Piedmont Lake, popular with boaters and campers, and as one would expect in a wildlife area, there is wildlife. River otters were introduced in 1993, and black bears have made their home there, among the deer and wild turkeys.

For decades, this land was strip-mined for coal. But in the 1990s, Ohio began purchasing the land, transforming it into a magnet for animals, birdwatchers, hikers, hunters, fishermen and tourists.

However, much of the state’s and nature’s hard work is now at risk, ever since July, when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) granted the Oxford Mining Co. a permit to strip-mine coal there. The company plans to mine underneath 741 acres for coal and to surface-mine 200 acres.

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America’s Heartland Feels a Chill From Collapsing Commodity Prices – by Nelson D. Schwartz and Julie Creswell (New York Times – October 23, 2015)

http://www.nytimes.com/

In China and other emerging markets, growth is waning and demand for the raw materials that drive the global economy has dried up.

A thousand miles south of Granite City, Ill., a gritty steel town on the Mississippi River, West Texas oil rigs have shuddered to a halt. Seven hundred miles north, mines in the Iron Range of Minnesota have been stilled.

The drilling rigs, with their deep underground pipes, once consumed much of the steel that Granite City’s blast furnaces could produce, while the mines supplied the raw material.

So now, more than 2,000 workers at the mammoth United States Steel plant not far from St. Louis are waiting to see if they will be next. This month, the company warned them it might be forced to idle the plant. Layoffs could begin around Christmas.

Granite City may be waiting, but a chill in economic activity is already evident across a broad swath of the nation’s heartland stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border, as prices of commodities sink.

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Coal Industry Has Wounded Itself Much Worse Than Obama’s Policies Ever Could – by Ken Silverstein (Forbes Magazine – October 23, 2015)

http://www.forbes.com/

With America’s most notorious coal boss standing trial on conspiracy and securities fraud charges, the industry should be asking itself just who is to blame for its woes. The overlooked irony of this federal case is that the sector should be looking closely at itself, and undergoing a thorough self-evaluation.

The coal industry, however, will continue to blame President Obama and his “radical” Environmental Protection Agency that has sought to ensure a cleaner environment while also using the public levers to advance green energies. What it refuses to acknowledge, though, is its own role — that its own strong-armed tactics have worked to oust it from America’s energy throne. And no individual personifies that trait more than the man on trial: Don Blankenship, former chief executive of Massey Energy.

Prosecutors are still making their case, all before the defense gets a chance to present their evidence. And Mr. Blankenship is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise. He is charged with conspiring to evade workplace safety laws, which subsequently led to an April 2010 mine explosion outside Beckley, W.V. that killed 29 miners. The government is also alleging he filed false information with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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EPA Mine Spill in Colorado Could Have Been Prevented, Probe Concludes – by Matthew Brown (Associated Press/ABC News – October 22, 2015)

http://abcnews.go.com/

BILLINGS, Mont. — Government investigators squarely blamed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday for a 3 million-gallon wastewater spill from a Colorado gold mine, saying an EPA cleanup crew rushed its work and failed to consider the complex engineering involved, triggering the very blowout it hoped to avoid.

The spill that fouled rivers in three states would have been avoided had the EPA team checked on water levels inside the Gold King Mine before digging into a collapsed and leaking mine entrance, Interior Department investigators concluded.

The technical report on the causes of the Aug. 5 spill has implications across the United States, where similar disasters could lurk among an estimated hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines that have yet to be cleaned up. The total cost of containing this mining industry mess could top $50 billion, according to government estimates.

The root causes of the Colorado accident began decades ago, when mining companies altered the flow of water through a series of interconnected tunnels in the extensively mined Upper Animas River watershed, the report says.

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Indonesian battle over Freeport threatens to mar leader’s U.S. trip – by Randy Fabi and Wilda Asmarini (Reuters U.S. – October 16, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

Jakarta – Indonesian ministers are battling over control of U.S. mining giant Freeport-McMoRan’s future in the country, threatening to mar the president’s first trip to the United States later this month.

President Joko Widodo starts a five-day trip to Washington and San Francisco on Oct. 25, as investor sentiment in Southeast Asia’s largest economy brightens following a cabinet reshuffle and a series of new stimulus measures.

One of Widodo’s first stops will be with Freeport executives at a breakfast ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, according to a tentative schedule obtained by Reuters.

At the heart of talks will likely be Freeport’s years-long bid to renew its contract, allowing the firm to continue operating beyond 2021 at the lucrative Grasberg mine in Papua, one of the world’s biggest deposits of gold and copper.

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‘Keep on going’, urges Freeport chief – by Henry Sanderson and Neil Hume (Financial Times – October 15, 2015)

http://www.ft.com/

Copper miner CEO says tough decisions needed as low prices reign

“If you’re going through hell, keep on going.” That is how Richard Adkerson, chief executive of US copper miner Freeport-McMoRan, summed up sentiment at his company’s party to mark the end of LME Week in London.

The song by Rodney Adkins was an apt metaphor for this year’s annual gathering of miners, traders and smelters, who are dealing with commodity prices at their lowest levels since the financial crisis.

Miners and traders look forward to Freeport’s party every year, but Wednesday’s bash at the Intercontinental Hotel in Park Lane reflected the new austerity: gone were the oysters and the large arrays of sushi stations. Delegates picked at marshmallows dipped in chocolate instead.

One attendee reflected on the boom years, remembering how people would retire to private clubs nearby for all-night parties, providing their Chinese guests with lavish entertainment.

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Who Wants to Buy a Coal Mine? – by John W. Miller and Matt Jarzemsky (Wall Street Journal – October 13, 2015)

http://www.wsj.com/

As producers scale back, strategic buyers are few and far between—and the coal-industry outlook appears bleak

Tom Clarke received a cold reception when he first approached Patriot Coal Corp. earlier this year.

The company and its advisers were trying to sell some of its Appalachian mines after filing for bankruptcy protection. At first they doubted Mr. Clarke’s conservation group, whose mission is “to conserve Virginia’s natural resources to address climate change,” would have the money and know-how the deal required, according to people familiar with the matter.

But Mr. Clarke managed to get an audience with the embattled miner. In a conference room at a private airport in Charleston, W.Va., he made his pitch: His Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund Inc. would take control of mining operations and cleanup projects, aiming to sell coal bundled with carbon credits linking it to forestry projects. Patriot, in exchange, would be freed from about $400 million in liabilities tied to the mines but wouldn’t receive a significant cash payment.

Patriot accepted the offer.

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Statement from the Arizona Mining Association – by Kelly Norton (October 8, 2015)

http://www.azmining.com/

Kelly Norton is the President of the Arizona Mining Association.

“Reforms proposed for the Mining Law will not fix the challenging legacy mine situation in the U.S. but will instead distract policymakers from effective solutions.

“The mining industry is not opposed to a royalty on new mines provided it sustains a competitive environment for U.S. mines, the mining economy and the employment it supports, and is coupled with a timely and efficient permitting process.

“Legislative initiatives proposing punitive royalties on new mining will only kill investment, jobs, and local revenue generated by modern mining.

“Modern mining is a highly regulated industry unlike the by-gone era when exhausted mines were not regulated and simply abandoned. Post-mining reclamation and restoration is a requirement of modern mining and includes both state and federal regulations.

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For a ghost town, Jerome remains quite lively – by Margo Bartlett Pesek (Las Vegas Review-Journal – October 3, 2015)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/

Jerome, Arizona’s liveliest ghost town, has turned the bust of its mining wealth into a boom of tourism income. Instead of extracting the copper, gold and silver of old, Jerome now exploits its colorful past, picturesque downtown, splendid setting and thriving arts community to entice visitors.

Located on a mountainside in central Arizona, Jerome straddles scenic Highway 89A and overlooks the beautiful Verde Valley with the striking red cliffs of Sedona in the distance.

The former copper boomtown of Jerome is 285 miles from Las Vegas. Follow U.S. Highway 93 to Kingman, Ariz., then head east on Interstate 40. At Ash Fork, turn south on Highway 89 and drive 45 miles toward Prescott. Watch for the turnoff for 89A as you approach Prescott. Turn there and head east about 26 miles to reach Jerome. The dramatic route will take you over Mingus Mountain and steeply down toward the Verde Valley. This is not a safe route for large RVs or vehicles hauling long trailers. Oversize rigs should approach using other routes from Prescott or Flagstaff.

The curvy highway takes hairpin turns through the old town, its bridges cantilevered over the slopes.

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The Fall Of King Coal – by Tim Murphy (Mother Jones Magazine – November/December 2015)

http://www.motherjones.com/

After 29 men died in his company’s mine, Don Blankenship is fighting to stay out of prison. But he’s already won the battle to convert coal country to his brand of conservative politics.

THE PEOPLE OF the Kentucky and West Virginia borderland, where Don Blankenship’s family has lived for generations, have always clustered, out of tradition and necessity, along river valleys and in low-lying hollows amid the nubby Appalachian peaks. The winding roads there, crumbling under the weight of overloaded Mack trucks, are lined with trailers like the one Blankenship grew up in, many with “Friend of Coal” placards in their windows.

But at the peak of his 18-year reign as the CEO of coal giant Massey Energy—as if in a symbolic nod to his rise from hardscrabble roots—Blankenship erected a four-story villa that evoked a fairy-tale castle on a Kentucky mountaintop. It was a short helicopter ride from his primary home, a gated estate on the other side of the Tug Fork River. From a white tower atop his Massey-owned mountain retreat, Blankenship could look out on the coal yards and misty hollows of West Virginia’s Mingo County like a king surveying his domain.

Blankenship earned his way to this summit by reducing many of the nearby mountaintops to heaps of gravel and harvesting the bituminous seams inside them to nearly triple his company’s revenue.

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Arizona still tops in copper, up 28% in 50 years – by Tom Tracey (Verde Independent – September 29, 2015)

http://verdenews.com/

CLARKDALE — Copper: So important was it to the history of Arizona that it remains front and center on the state flag as a copper-colored star.

Over the years, Arizona has consistently produced more copper than all the other states combined. In fact, 28 percent more copper is being produced now than 50 years ago.

You don’t have to look far for copper. It’s found in airplanes, automobiles, coins, computers construction materials, cookware, radios, telephones, TVs and video games, according to the Arizona Farm Bureau.

“Here at the museum, we have a panel that shows where copper is used,” said Drake Meinke, founder of the Copper Art Museum in Clarkdale.

“For art purposes, about 3 percent of the world’s supply is fabricated into something. The other 97 percent is used for electrical, transportation and construction uses,” said Meinke.

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Installment #4 – “My Old Man:” The Uranium King – The Final Chapter (for now) in the colorful history of Charlie Steen – by Mark Steen (Canyon Country Zephyr – August/September 2002)

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/

In order to follow the history of the exploration and development of the Big Indian mining district it is necessary to understand a few things about the geology of the uranium ore deposits that were found after Charlie Steen discovered the Mi Vida mine. The most important thing to remember is that none of the ore deposits discovered during the next four years were exposed on the surface.

Although the ore bearing host rocks in the Moss Back member of the Chinle formation did outcrop in a few places along the face of the escarpment overlooking the Big Indian Wash, all of the uranium that was found after 1952 was discovered by exploration drilling. My father’s discovery proved that someone could walk over $100 million worth of uranium ore without knowing what lay beneath their feet unless they were willing to risk money on wildcat drilling in the search for totally hidden ore deposits.

Although the Big Indian mining district was developed from the single drill hole Charlie Steen had drilled through 14 feet of high-grade uranium ore on July 6, 1952, none of the other mines in the district were brought into production on the basis of one drill hole. After the Mi Vida mine proved the existence of uranium ore in the Chinle formation, drilling became the chief guide to finding more ore in the district.

Any drill hole that encountered good mineralization of minable thickness required additional drilling to block out the ore body.

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Installment #3 – “My Old Man:” The Uranium King – Charlie Steen strikes it rich and fight his partners to han on to the Mi Vida Mine – by Mark Steen (Canyon Country Zephyr – June/July 2002)

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/

A few days after the Denver Post published its closely worded story about my father’s Big Indian uranium discovery, Moab’s Times-Independent ran an article based on the same announcement that Dad had given to the Denver newspaper. Although the Times-Independent article actually contained more details about the high-grade nature of the uranium mineralization contained in the discovery drill core, not a single person among the newspaper’s readership expressed any interest in helping Dad develop his prospect.

None of the area’s long-time uranium prospectors and miners were convinced that Charlie Steen had really found a uranium bonanza. Folks laughed when they heard that someone from Texas was claiming to have discovered a million dollars worth of uranium in a mining district that everyone knew the experts had already examined and written off as a loser.

In early September, Dad received a letter postmarked Casper, Wyoming from William T. Hudson, his former boss at the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company’s Houston, Texas office. Bill Hudson had overseen the college loans that my father worked off during the summers and had written to congratulate him after reading the Denver Post article.

AT LONG LAST! Charlie tries on a new pair of boots.

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West Virginia Miners Play Second Fiddle to the Molly Maguires – by Mark Hand (Counter Punch.com – September 29, 2015)

http://www.counterpunch.org/

In search of improved working conditions and livable wages, mine workers in two major coal producing states resorted to violence against coal mine owners and managers. The militants in one of those states are celebrated as heroic fighters of America’s industrial age. In the other state, the miners’ campaign for human progress is omitted from state history books.

In Pennsylvania, the state contributed funds to build a monument to honor the Molly Maguires, a secretive Irish organization that allegedly killed coal company officials as retribution for their treatment of miners. In museums and gift shops in the state’s anthracite coal region, visitors can purchase t-shirts and other memorabilia honoring the Mollies, 20 of whom were hanged after they were found guilty of murder and other serious charges in the late 1870s.

A big-budget Hollywood movie, titled The Molly Maguires, was released in 1970 with a radical coal miner, played by Scottish actor Sean Connery, as the hero and a Pinkerton detective, played by Irish actor Richard Harris, as the anti-hero.

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Mark Steen remembers… “My Old Man:” The Uranium King…Part 2 – The author debunks a few tall tales and tells what really happened in 1952 – by Mark Steen (Canyon Country Zephyr – April/May 2002)

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/

At the beginning of my first article in The Zephyr about my father, Charlie Steen, and his discovery of the Mi Vida mine and its consequences, I wrote that people couldn’t seem to resist the impulse to distort and rewrite the history of Moab’s most famous prospector. I pointed out that falsehoods about my father’s uranium discovery and his role in the Uranium Boom were now finding their way into print in historical publications.

Potato Chips & Bananas

Two good bad examples of people distorting the truth or concocting half-truths about my father’s role in changing the course of the uranium industry clearly illustrate this point. In Utah’s official centennial history, Utah: The Right Placeby Dr. Thomas G. Alexander, the author has my Dad feeding his family on “potato chips and bananas” while he searched for uranium “with a Geiger counter under one arm and a bundle of Geological Surveys under the other.”

Aside from the well-known fact that my father couldn’t afford a Geiger counter and the lack of printed geological information about the Big Indian area prior to the Uranium Boom, Dr. Alexander, who has three university degrees in history, actually seems to think that six people could live for more than two years on potato chips and bananas! I wonder what level of sobriety the old timer who spun that yarn was in when that tale was told?

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