|
The Chuitna Coal Project is a proposed coal strip mine that, if granted state and federal permits, would be built about southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, in an area known as the Beluga Coal Fields near the Chuitna River and the small communities of Tyonek and Beluga in upper Cook Inlet.〔(Chuitna Overview Map )〕〔(Chuitna River Aerial Photo )〕 ==Proposal== The Chuitna Coal Project is a proposal of PacRim LP, a Delaware-based corporation, which holds a state lease to of Alaska Mental Health Trust property where an estimated 1 billion metric tons of low-sulfur, sub-bituminous coal is thought to exist.〔(Chuitna Coal Project SEIS Site )〕 Proven reserves are reported to be 771 million tons.〔(Alaska Mineral Industry 2007 Summary ), page 11〕 The company is in the advanced stages of state and federal mine-permitting processes.〔(Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land & Water )〕 PacRim has surveyed three Logical Mining Units, or LMUs, within its lease. If permitted, the company has said it plans to extract up to 12 million metric tons of coal from the first of these units over a minimum period of 25 years. Other LMUs, could be developed in future years. The surface coalmine itself could eventually spread to cover , but the project also would include assorted support facilities, a mine road and a long, covered conveyor system to transport coal to Cook Inlet at Ladd Landing where a port facility would be built. Ladd Landing is property owned by the Kenai Peninsula Borough and subject to a lease-option held by PacRim.〔(Option to Lease Ladd Landing )〕 A letter of intent to exercise the Ladd Landing option was filed by PacRim in March, 2009. For more, see Lease-Option History section below. Only about 10 percent of Alaska's electricity is generated by coal, all of which is produced by the Usibelli Coal Mine, near Healy, Alaska. That operation supplies six Interior Alaska power plants and ships its surplus overseas.〔(Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. )〕 Currently, Alaska's coal-fired generating capacity has no need for the coal that would be produced at Chuitna. Thus, coal extracted from the Chuitna project would most likely be shipped to Asian markets, including South Korea, Japan and Mainland China, with other possible markets being Mexico and Chile.〔(Peninsula Clarion article source: former PacRim Contractor Bob Stiles, CEO DRven Corp. )〕 Interest in exploiting the resources in the Beluga Coal Fields has waxed and waned over the decades since the late 1960s, with the lease passing through a succession of corporate hands. The proposed Chuitna Coal Project has both proponents and opponents and is becoming increasingly controversial in the Cook Inlet region. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chuitna Coal Project」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|
