In September, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said it planned to issue an air permit to TJS Mining, acquired by Rosebud on December 31, 2010, for its TJS No. 6 prep plant in Armstrong County, Pa. Throughput at the proposed plant will be limited to 420,000 tons of processed coal annually.
Rosebud says the project consists of screens, a conveyor, radial stackers, a front-end loader, storage piles, a pressurized water truck and other miscellaneous equipment associated with the operation.
Annual emissions from the plant, according to at the PA DEP, are estimated at 9.45 tons of particulate matter and 3.34 tons of PM10.
Separately, Rosebud is seeking a Section 404 Clean Water Act permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district office in Pittsburgh, Pa., for its new Donegal underground mine in Butler County, Pa. A Rosebud official said the mine probably is a couple of years away from initial production. Donegal, a room-and-pillar operation, will extract coal from the Lower Kittanning seam that will be accessed by excavating a box cut from the surface to the coal seam.
In the TJS purchase Rosebud acquired two deep mines, Rossmoyne and TJS No. 6, and four surface mines, along with TJS’ Dutch Run prep plant. All of the operations are located in Armstrong or Indiana counties in Pennsylvania.
In January 2011, Rosebud bought Action Mining and its related companies in Somerset County, Pa. Action consists of seven surface mines in the county and a tipple on the CSX Railroad near Meyersdale.
On April 1, 2010, Rosebud purchased most of the assets of Buckeye Industrial Mining in eastern Ohio. The deal included five small surface mines, a deep mine renamed Bergholz No. 7 in Jefferson County, and the Kensington prep plant. In addition, Rosebud also completed the purchase of Parkwood Resources on April 1, 2010. Parkwood owned and operated the Cherry Tree mine in Clearfield County, Pa.
Currently, Rosebud operates 20 underground and 16 surface mines as well as eight prep plants. The mines produce coal from the Upper Freeport, Lower Freeport, Upper Kittanning, Middle Kittanning and Lower Kittanning seams. Rosebud says the different seams give it the flexibility to blend coals into the specific qualities requested by its customers.
