Belle Ayr Coal Mine

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Belle Ayr Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Gillette, Wyoming, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Belle Ayr Coal Mine	Gillette, Wyoming, United States	44.09744, -105.42811 (exact)

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

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1972	–

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
–	13.75292005	2023	Surface	Open Pit	26.5	75*	269

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
141	–	–	Powder River Basin	Subbituminous	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Eagle Specialty Materials LLC	Eagle Specialty Materials LLC [100%]	USA

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	15	18	10	11	14	14	13

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

Background

Belle Ayr Mine is a coal mine, operated by Eagle Specialty Materials (ESM), an affiliate of FM Coal, LLC (FM Coal), producing 18.4 million short tons per annum, near Gillette in Campbell County, Wyoming, United States. The Belle Ayr Mine is a coal mine located in the state of Wyoming in the United States, about 18 miles southeast of Gillette in the Powder River Basin. The mine is an open pit, "truck and shovel" operation producing low-sulphur coal.

In 2007, the mine produced just over 26.6 million short tons of coal, making it the 7th-most productive coal mine in the United States. The following year, production had increased to 28.7 million tonnes.

The mine was formerly owned and operated by Foundation Coal. In late 2017, Foundation sold this mine, together with Eagle Butte Mine, to Blackjewel LLC, a company owned by Jeff Hoops, an Appalachian coal mining magnate. As of February 2019, Blackjewel owed Campbell County (where the mine is located) $8.6 million in taxes. The mine's permits have also been held up because of Blackjewel's record of environmental violations in its Appalachian operations. As of May 2019, the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council was delaying approval of the mine's transfer permit to Blackjewel, due to the company's environmental violations.

The mine is currently owned and operated by Eagle Specialty Materials.

• MSHA ID: 4800732
• Operator: Eagle Specialty Materials (ESM)
• Owner: FM Coal, LLC (FM Coal)
• Location: Campbell County, Wyoming, United States
• GPS Cooridnates: 44.098376, -105.365477
• Production (short tons): 18,467,405 (2018)
• Coal Type: Subbituminous
• Mining Method: Surface
• Equipment:
• Number of Employees: 282
• Mineable Reserve: 155 million tons permitted
• Mine Status: Operating

Opposition

Environmental groups sue BLM over coal leases in Wyoming

It was announced on August 23, 2011 that three environmental groups are suing the Bureau of Land Management over the agency's decision to allow Alpha Natural Resources to mine a tract at the Caballo Mine containing 130.1 million tons of coal for $143.4 million along with one other lease the BLM approved, including the Belle Ayr Mine tract which contains 130.1 million tons of coal and is operated by Peabody Energy. WildEarth Guardians, Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife. The groups contended the BLM did not properly conduct its assessment of the environmental impacts of the proposed operation.

The groups contend that the coal from the tracts is enough to fuel 152 coal-fired power plants and would release 643 million tons of carbon dioixide, or the same amount as that released by 111.7 million passenger vehicles a year, using EPA calculations.

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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.