According to an Associated Press report, the US Bureau of Land Management leased more than 1.7 billion tons of coal in the Powder River Basin last year. Coal lease sales were at record levels at US$1.3 billion.
Once again Peabody Energy, Kennecott Energy and Arch Coal were the biggest producers.
In 2003 the state’s coal sector employed 4,788 people and contributed more than $450 million a year to the Wyoming economy.