International Coal Group Inc. (ICG), a West Virginia, US-based coal producer with assets in Northern and Central Appalachia and the Illinois Basin, on March 10 announced that its subsidiary ICG Tygart Valley's Tygart No. 1 deep mine complex in Taylor County, Grafton, West Virginia has had its surface mining permit reinstated and so can resume work.
The mine in question produces high quality thermal and premium high-volatile metallurgical coal for the steel sector, with an estimated annual output of 3.5 million mt at full capacity.
The Tygart No. 1 project had previously received all essential federal and state approvals, but challenges lodged by a local anti-mining organization caused the project to be delayed.
A company press release said that the West Virginia Surface Mine Board (WVSMB) has issued an order upholding a May 2009 decision by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) granting the permit, saying that the anti-mining group's objections regarding the potential for post-mining water quality problems were adequately addressed in the approved permit.
ICG CEO and president Ben Hatfield commented, "Our current business plan anticipates that we will resume construction on the Tygart project in mid-2011, with early development production projected for late 2012."