North American Coal Corporation

The North American Coal Corporation is a coal mining and marketing company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company, which is a subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange listed NACCO Industries, Inc., states on its website that it is the "nation’s largest lignite coal producer and among the top 10 coal producers in the U.S.". It states that it produces approximately 35 million tonnes of coal a year from mines in North Dakota, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

On its website, the company states that it "mines and markets lignite coal primarily as fuel for power generation by electric utilities" and provides dragline mining services for "limerock quarries in Florida through its North American Mining division." (Lignite coal, or "brown coal," has a lower energy content than bituminous coal, and burning lignite produces higher carbon emissions.)

Current coal mines
On its website the company lists its four currently operating coal mines as the :
 * Falkirk Mine in Underwood, North Dakota. The company states that the mine began production in 1978 and "delivers approximately 7 million tons of coal per year" which is supplied to Great River Energy. The company mines approximately 400 acres of land a year.
 * Freedom Mine in Beulah, North Dakota. The company states that the mine was established in 1983 and supplies delivers more than 16 million tons of coal per year to the Dakota Coal Company, a subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative. The company states that the Freedom Mine is "the largest lignite mine in the United States in deliveries" and mines approximately 600 acres of land a year.
 * Red Hills Mine in Ackerman, Mississippi. The company states that the mine began production in the fourth quarter 2000 and delivers approximately 3.5 million tons of coal per year to SUEZ Energy Resources. The Red Hills Mine disturbs approximately 120 acres of land a year.
 * Sabine Mine in Hallsville, Texas began production in 1984 and delivers approximately 4.0 million tons of coal per year to American Electric Power. The Sabine mine mines approximately 400 acres of land a year.

Coal mines currently under construction or development
Coal mines which North American Coal Corporation is currently constructing or are under development are the:
 * Eagle Pass Mine,
 * Five Forks Mine,
 * Kemper County Mine
 * Liberty Mine, and the
 * Marshall Mine.

Former NACC mines
Coal mines formerly operated by North American Coal Corporation include the:
 * Caddo Creek Mine - Hallsville, TX
 * Camino Real Mine - Texas
 * Demery Mine - Coushatta, LA
 * Red River Mine
 * San Miguel Mine
 * South Hallsville No 1 Mine

American Lignite Energy Coal-to-Liquids Project
Together with Headwaters Inc. and Great River Energy, North American Coal Corporation is currently moving ahead with plans to build the 30,000 barrels/day American Lignite Energy coal-to-liquids plant, which would produce diesel and jet fuel from lignite coal. Project sponsors are waiting to see whether or not government subsidies will become available in order to make final financing decisions about the plant. This project would be North American Coal’s first foray into coal-to-liquids, and would be among the first coal-to-liquids projects in the U.S. The estimated total cost of the project is $2 billion.

Office bearers
As of July 2011 the company officers are:
 * Alfred M. Rankin, Jr., Chairman
 * Robert L. Benson, President and Chief Executive Officer
 * J. C. Butler, Jr., Senior Vice President – Project Development and Administration
 * Bob D. Carlton, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
 * Michael J. Gregory, Vice President - International Operations and Special Projects
 * Harry Tipton, Vice President - Engineering, Louisiana and Mississipi Operations
 * Thomas A. Koza, Vice President, Senior Counsel and Assistant Secretary
 * John Neumann, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
 * John "Jack" R. Pokorny, Controller
 * K. Donald Grischow, Treasurer
 * Charles A. Bittenbender, Assistant Secretary

Contact Details
14785 Preston Road, Suite 1100 Dallas, Texas 75254-7891 USA Phone: 972.239.2625 Fax: 972.387.1328 Website: http://www.nacoal.com/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * American Lignite Energy
 * North Dakota and coal
 * U.S. coal politics