Tatonka Oil and Gas announces spud of 1st coal bed methane well

Tatonka Oil and Gas announces spud of 1st coal bed methane well

Tatonka Oil and Gas, Inc. has spud the first of five Coal Bed Methane (CBM) appraisal wells on its leasehold of over 15,000 acres in the Sand Wash Basin of northwestern Colorado.
The Eldon Gerber 7-24-7-92 is targeting the Williams Fork Formation (Mesaverde Group) coals above an estimated total depth of 4,000 feet.
Management anticipates the well [...]

December 27th, 2006

China To Keep Liberalizing Coal Prices, Link Elec To Coal

China To Keep Liberalizing Coal Prices, Link Elec To Coal

China will continue to liberalize domestic coal prices in 2007 and adjust state-set electricity prices in tandem with coal price changes, the country’s top economic planner said Tuesday.
Coal supply and demand is expected to be balanced in 2007, but shortages could occur in some regions due to limited transportation capacity, the National Development and Reform [...]

December 27th, 2006

Pa. coal-to-oil plant draws concerns

Pa. coal-to-oil plant draws concerns

A coal-to-oil plant proposed in Schuylkill County is expected to create 150 jobs and 1,000 construction positions. But some residents are worried about environmental problems from waste the plant will produce.
“I know there’s going to be enormous amounts of slag and I don’t know how they’re going to get rid of it,” Mahanoy Township supervisors [...]

December 27th, 2006

19th century mining law, budget crunch hit home

19th century mining law, budget crunch hit home

When congressional staffers take a tour of Arches National Park, their agenda always includes a nondescript piece of desert over by Balanced Rock.
“They all want to see where Ed Abbey lived,” said park Superintendent Laura Joss, standing beside her government-issue Chevy Malibu.
Pointing out Abbey’s old trailer site framed pastorally beneath the La Sal Mountains and [...]

December 26th, 2006

Mining expert for Beaconsfield

Mining expert for Beaconsfield

Gary Davison, a director with Lightning Nickel and managing director of mining and geotechnical consultant Mining One, has agreed to join the BMJV, which consists of Beaconsfield Gold chief executive Bill Colvin and Allstate administrator Michael Ryan.
It is not clear whether Mr Ryan will remain on the committee as an Allstate representative.
Mr Ryan has been [...]

December 26th, 2006

Chinese firms buy controlling stake in NKorea copper mine: report

Chinese firms buy controlling stake in NKorea copper mine: report

Chinese firms have bought a controlling stake in one of North Korea’s largest copper mines, Chinese and South Korean media have reported.
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Luanhe Industrial Group, based in north China’s Hebei province, last month signed a deal in Pyongyang giving it a 51-percent share in Hyesan Youth Cooper Mine, the state-controlled Tangshan Labor Daily said in a [...]

December 26th, 2006

Kudremukh Iron Ore plea to continue mining rejected

Kudremukh Iron Ore plea to continue mining rejected

The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to take immediate possession of the Kudremukh iron ore mines in Karnataka, following the stoppage of operations there in the wake of an adverse effect on the environment and eco system.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia asked it to select [...]

December 26th, 2006

Microbe found in California mine could be smallest life form yet

Microbe found in California mine could be smallest life form yet

The smallest form of life known to science just got smaller.
Four million of a newly discovered microbe — assuming the discovery, reported in the journal Science, is confirmed — could fit into the period at the end of this sentence.
Scientists found the microbes living in a remarkably inhospitable environment — drainage water, as caustic as [...]

December 26th, 2006

Sago mine documentary ‘emotional’

Sago mine documentary ‘emotional’

Harlan County native Carl Shoupe hasn’t met the families who lost loved ones in West Virginia’s Sago Mine disaster. But he shares a brotherhood with them as a former coal miner, and he recently helped re-enact the tragedy in a Discovery Channel feature.
The Discovery Channel filmed part of the two-hour documentary Sago Mine Disaster: On [...]

December 26th, 2006

Ethanol Use Up, Agriculture Could Suffer

Ethanol Use Up, Agriculture Could Suffer

Government agencies are urging consumers to fuel their cars with ethanol, which eventually could have a negative impact on the agriculture industry.
Michigan uses one-third of its corn crop each year to create ethonol.
The agriculture industry is breaking even on corn prices for the first time in years.

December 26th, 2006