A $45 million expansion of the Ohio County Coal Co.’s preparation plant in Benwood is expected to be completed by late spring.
BENWOOD, W.Va. — The dust flying in Center Benwood signals increased coal production at Murray Energy’s Ohio County Mine – and a $45 million expansion at the mine’s preparation plant to accommodate it.
A new coal processing facility is being constructed at the site that will improve the operation’s efficiency and coal processing capacities, according to Murray spokesman Gary Broadbent.
“This upgrade will allow the plant to process up to 1,800 tons per hour – a 38-percent increase from the current feed rate,” Broadbent said. “The cost of the project is approximately $45 million, and we expect the new module to be fully operational in May of 2015.”
The Benwood mine was known as the Shoemaker Mine before Consol Energy sold it and four other West Virginia mines to Murray Energy in December 2013. At that time, the mine was renamed the “Ohio County Coal Co.’s Ohio County Mine.”
Prior to the sale, Consol invested more than $200 million to construct a new beltline across W.Va. 2 to its Benwood operations.
The Ohio County Mine employs 733 people, including 66 at the preparation plant. Broadbent said the company doesn’t expect employment numbers to change.
The mine is expected to produce 6.4 million tons of bituminous coal in 2015. This coal isn’t exported, but is used by electric utility customers in America, some of which are local, according to Broadbent.
For now, Benwood Mayor Ed Kuca encourages Benwood’s residents to be patient with the resulting dirt and dust as construction continues at the Ohio Valley Mine.
“It should be eliminated (by summer) with this new system they are putting in,” Kuca said. “After this, when they process the coal, it will all be going out by barge, and nothing will be going out on the highway the way it is now. … Hopefully, this will solve a lot of the problems with the dirt that is being transported (onto Benwood’s streets).”
The Benwood announcement comes as St. Clairsville-based Murray Energy prepares to temporarily idle 333 miners at its Ohio Valley Coal Mine in Alledonia, Ohio, allowing the company to relocate equipment and infrastructure to another portion of the mine.
The transition at the Alledonia mine is expected to begin Monday with full operations there set to resume Jan. 20, according to company officials.
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