Cobalt Coal

Cobalt Coal is a publicly traded coal exploration and production company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with a regional office in Welch, West Virginia USA. Cobalt was created in August 2007 to capitalize on the growth opportunities that exist in the modern metallurgical coal mining industry.

According to the company site, Cobalt Coal is a metallurgical coal acquisition and development company focusing on the Appalachian region of the USA. Metallurgical coal, also known as 'Coking Coal' is used in the production of steel, as opposed to 'Thermal' or 'Steam' coal which is burned in power plants for its energy content. The company is focused on the acquisition and development of known, high grade metallurgical coal reserves to produce near term cash flow.

Currently the company only has mining operations in Alberta, Canada but is looking to also purchase or lease land in West Virginia, USA.

Contact
Cobalt Coal Corp Mike Crowder, CEO Office: 304-436-2390 mike@newtechmining.com

or

Robert Gillies, CFO Office: 403-538-8455 bob.gillies@sympatico.ca

Mining operations
Cobalt currently has one coal property (the Westchester Mine) and another project which is currently being negotiated in known as Westchester Expansion. Cobalt Coal states that both of these projects contain high grade metallurgical coal with several drill holes and outcrop samples confirming the presence, and quality of coal.

Cobalt Coal announces mine expansion in Alberta
In January 2011, Cobalt Coal announced that it was expanding one of its mining operations in Alberta, Canada. The "Westchester Expansion" includes adding approximately 121 acres to the mine. The company stated that Phase 1 Expansion alone will add approximately 600,000 tons of coal resources to the existing 1,200,000 tons of coal reserves currently under lease for a total of approximately 1,800,000 tons. Cobalt stated that they expect an additional 330,000 to 450,000 tons of metallurgical coal is potentially recoverable from the Phase 1 Expansion using both the room-and-pillar and the retreat mining techniques.

Based on a targeted production rate of 7,000 clean tons per month, the Westchester Expansion should add 4 to 5 years of mineable reserves to Westchester Mine’s existing mine life of 6 to 10 years.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Canada and coal
 * West Virginia and coal