[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 43 (Monday, March 6, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 12249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5379]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WY-920-05-1320-01]
Notice of Competitive Coal Lease Sale
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of competitive coal lease sale (Eagle Butte Tract,
WYW124783).
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that certain coal resources in the
Eagle Butte Tract described below in Campbell County, WY, will be
offered for competitive lease by sealed bid in accordance with the
provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended (30 U.S.C.
181 et seq.).
DATES: The lease sale will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, April 5, 1995.
Sealed bids must be submitted on or before 4 p.m., Tuesday, April 4,
1995.
ADDRESSES: The lease sale will be held in the Third Floor Conference
Room, Wyoming State Office (WSO), 2515 Warren Avenue, P.O. Box 1828,
Cheyenne, WY 82003. Sealed bids must be submitted to the Cashier, WSO,
at the address given above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Steele, Land Law Examiner, or
Eugene Jonart, Coal Coordinator, at 307-775-6250.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This coal lease sale is being held in
response to an application for a lease by application competitive coal
lease sale filed by AMAX Land Company (formerly, Meadowlark Farms,
Inc.) of Gillette, WY. The coal resources to be offered consist of all
reserves recoverable by surface mining methods in the following
described lands located approximately 3 miles north of Gillette, WY:
T. 51 N., R. 72 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming
Sec. 28: Lot 13 (W2);
Sec. 33: Lots 1 thru 4, 5 (E2), 6 thru 11, 12 (E2), and 14 thru
16;
Sec. 34: Lots 3 thru 6, and 9 thru 16.
Containing 1,059.175 acres.
The Eagle Butte Tract, located adjacent to the existing Eagle Butte
mine, contains the Roland and Smith coal seams both of which are in the
Fort Union Formation. The Roland seam averages about 40 ft. thick and
the Smith seam averages about 61 ft. thick on the LBA area. The Roland
seam is thicker in the LBA area than some adjacent portions of existing
leases. This is due to an upper zone of the seam becoming dominantly
coal on the LBA, whereas the same zone is an interbedded claystone and
coal on the existing leases. Total burden on the LBA averages 217 ft.
thick. There is a shaly coal split separating the Smith and Roland
seems averaging about 4 ft. thick on the LBA tract. The average in-
place stripping ratio (BCY/ton) for the LBA tract is estimated to be
1.99:1.
The tract contains an estimated 188,500,000 tons of in-place coal
reserves. However, about 115 acres of the tract are unavailable for
mining because of a required buffer for U.S. Highway 14/16. The BLM
estimates that this buffer reduces minable reserves to approximately
166,400,000 tons.
The coal rank is subbituminous C. Average as received quality for
the Roland seam on the LBA is 8434 BTU/LB., 4.95% ash, and 0.54%
sulfur. Average as received quality for the Smith seam on the LBA tract
is 8341 BTU/LB., 4.23% ash, and 0.22% sulfur. This places the coal
reserves in the LBA tract just slightly below average in heat content
for coal being mined in this portion of the Power River Basin. Other
quality parameters compare favorably with coal presently being mined in
this area.
The tract in this lease offering contains split estate lands. The
surface is not held by a qualified surface owner as defined in 43 CFR
3400.0-5.
The tract will be leased to the qualified bidder of the highest
cash amount provided that the high bid equals the fair market value for
the tract. The minimum bid for the tract is $100 per acre or fraction
thereof. No bid that is less than $100 per acre, or fraction thereof,
will be considered. The bid should be sent by ``CERTIFIED MAIL--RETURN
RECEIPT REQUESTED'', or be hand-delivered. The Cashier will issue a
receipt for each hand-delivered bid. Bids received after 4 p.m.,
Tuesday, April 4, 1995, will not be considered. The minimum bid is not
intended to represent fair market value (FMV). The FMV of the tract
will be determined by the authorized officer after the sale.
If identical high bids are received, the tying high bidders will be
requested to submit follow-up sealed bids until a high bid is received.
All tie-breaking sealed bids must be submitted within 15 minutes
following the Sale Official's announcement at the sale that identical
high bids have been received.
The lease issued as a result of this offering will provide for
payment of an annual advance rental of $3.00 per acre, or fraction
thereof, and of a royalty payment to the U.S. of 12\1/2\ percent of the
value of coal produced by strip or augur mining methods and 8 percent
of the value of the coal produced by underground mining methods. The
value of the coal will be determined in accordance with 30 CFR
203.250(f).
Bidding instructions for the tract offered and the terms and
conditions of the proposed coal lease are available from the WSO at the
addresses above. Case file documents are available for inspection at
the WSO.
Robert A. Bennett,
DSD, Mineral Resources.
[FR Doc. 95-5379 Filed 3-3-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-M