According to the Associated Press, the Casselman Basin Clean Coal Project near Grantsville is being planned by Pennsylvania firm Joseph Peles Coal Company.
The mine would cut from what is believed to be the state’s final coal reserve, state senator George Edwards told the news service. It has been estimated by the Maryland Bureau of Mines to contain approximately 40 to 50 million recoverable tons in an area about 18 miles lone and five miles wide.
Peles, doing business in the state as Maryland Energy Resources, leased mineral rights for 15 million to 20 million tons that could give the mine a lifespan of about 20 years at 600,000 to 700,000t annually.
He told the AP the other companies had expressed preliminary interest in the surface property for an onsite power facility or for gas exploration.
Maryland Bureau of Mines director John Carey told the service the evaluation will probably take about 6 to 12 months and include a permission to mine beneath about 3,000 acres and tunnel beneath the nearby Casselman River.
The state of Maryland currently has 22 mines, 20 of which are surface. The two underground are the Steyer II underground complex which produced 365,000t last year, and the Taylor No. 1 underground mine which had production of 246,000t in 2007.
The Mettiki operation idled in 2006 after extracting most of its permitted output, and produced 2.3Mt in its final year.
