February 14, 2019 - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is initiating a public scoping process for a proposed coal project in southern Colorado, Kallanish Energy reports.

New Elk Coal is interested in a federal lease of 1,279 acres adjacent to the company’s New Elk Coal Mine in Las Animas County, Colorado.

The proposed lease holds an estimated 15 million tons of coal below privately held surface. The coal would be mined by underground mining methods with no surface disturbance.

The proposal would allow New Elk to mine the federally owned coal as part of its existing operation roughly 26 miles west of Trinidad, Colorado.

Access to the federally owned subsurface would also allow New Elk to more easily access private and state-owned coal they are currently permitted to mine, the Blm said.

The agency wants to hear from the public before it begins an environmental assessment on the project. The scoping period runs through Feb. 26.

For more information, go to https://go.usa.gov/xENMI.

Coal mines in Colorado generated $35 million in federal royalties in 2017 and that revenue is split with the state.  Mining coal from Blm Colorado lands and minerals generated $742 million in total economic output in 2017.