"Clean" Coal - Myth or Fact? Index

Quotes and Snippets...

The report ALASKA’S MINERAL INDUSTRY 2006: A SUMMARY provides another look at what's happened recently in Alaska's mineral industry. Below are some quotes from this report on the topics of coal and geothermal. -ke

"Full Metal was awarded a coal lease by the Alaska Mental Health Land Trust that covers 22,647 acres in the Chickaloon portion of the Matanuska Coal Field. The lease area includes Alaska’s only known significant occurrences and past-producing operations of metallurgical coal. In October 2006, Afognak Native Corp. entered into an agreement with Full Metal to earn an interest in the Chickaloon project. Full Metal has begun permitting for a drilling program starting in May 2007." (ALASKA’S MINERAL INDUSTRY 2006: A SUMMARY, p. 10)

"PacRim Coal LP continued permitting for the Chuitna Coal project, located west of Anchorage on the north side of Cook Inlet. PacRim released the Scoping Responsiveness Summary for the project’s Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. Previous work outlined 300 million tons of recoverable sub-bituminous coal with low sulfur content. The project is designed to include a coal export terminal connected to the mine with a 12-mile-long covered conveyor. Mine production capacity is designed to handle 3 to 12 million tons per year. Construction for this project is scheduled for 2007 with production in 2009. Construction costs will be approximately $650 million." (ALASKA’S MINERAL INDUSTRY 2006: A SUMMARY, p. 14)

"Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. continued production of subbituminous coal from its Two Bull Ridge site near Healy with an output of 1.4 million tons of coal, very slightly lower production than in 2005. Korean shipments continued, with 352,367 tons to that destination via the Alaska Railroad to the Seward Coal terminal and by ship from that point. Shipments also continued to Chile in the amount of 80,673 tons for the year. The mine also supplies six power plants in interior Alaska with approximately 900,000 tons annually..." (ALASKA’S MINERAL INDUSTRY 2006: A SUMMARY, p 16)

"The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) released Phase 1 of the Beluga Coal Gasification report dealing with use of coal-based integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant to produce a feedstock for the Agrium fertilizer plant at Nikiski..." (ALASKA’S MINERAL INDUSTRY 2006: A SUMMARY, p 20) Also see: Beluga Coal Gasification Feasibility Study, Phase I Final Report July 2006 (DOE/NETL-2006/1248) and Agrium’s Kenai Blue Sky Project Repowering an Ammonia/Urea Complex with Coal Gasification

"The Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) dedicated a new geothermal power plant at Chena Hot Springs Resort on August 20, 2006. The Chena Hot Springs geothermal power plant is the only geothermal power plant built in the United States during 2006 and boasts the world’s lowest temperature geothermal resource ever trapped for power generation... The Chena Power Plant generates power economically off a 120°F temperature differential between the evaporator and condenser temperature. All buildings at the resort are linked by a geothermal district-heating system and the geothermal power plant will alleviate the need for approximately 162,000 gallons of diesel fuel previously used for power. The cost of power production is expected to be reduced from $0.30 to less than $0.07 per kilowatt hour at Chena Hot Springs Resort by utilizing geothermal power." (ALASKA’S MINERAL INDUSTRY 2006: A SUMMARY, p 20)

References

ALASKA’S MINERAL INDUSTRY 2006: A SUMMARY, D.J. Szumigala and R.A. Hughes, Information Circular 54, Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (March 2007) - http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/oed/minerals/pub/IC54.pdf