Company spokesperson Meg Gallagher confirmed Peabody was the top auction bidder for 44 individual tracts totaling 4745 acres in Henderson County, Kentucky.
While the Associated Press reported the producer’s Cyprus Creek subsidiary paid $US17 million for the land, Peabody did not disclose or confirm the deal’s financial terms.
“No decisions have been made with regard to this property,” Gallagher said, noting no other company operations were nearby or contiguous.
“The extent of any reserves have yet to be determined.”
According to the AP, the area of Henderson County has deep coal reserves as well as a two-mile stretch next to the Ohio River.
The property is part of 7000 acres obtained by AEP’s Franklin Real Estate division in the 1960s and 1970s for a proposed coal-fired generation facility that was later constructed in Rockport, Illinois.
Peabody’s purchase was the final segment of that land, the news service said.
