Canadian company files for mining permit on Rosa Mine

The MCoal Corporation, a metallurgical coal company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has filed an application with the Alabama Surface Mining Commission to mine coal at a site in Blount County known as the Rosa Mine.

The tract is located generally in the Dry Creek, Andy Branch, and Cold Branch watersheds, along the margins of Berry Mountain, including large parts of Tater Knob, Cornelius Mountain, and Nevins Mountain. An area lying south of U.S. 231 between Rosa and Cleveland is also included. The legal description given in the notice of application covers 2800 acres in the area proposed for mining operations. The area proposed for active mining in the initial permit covers 538 acres, according to county engineer Richard Spraggins. The project is expected to provide some 25 local jobs for a period of three to five years.

The company’s application for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit was acknowledged on May 5 by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. The public notice period began on June 10 with the publication of a notice in this newspaper, and continued for the following three weeks. The final notice appears in the paper today.

A copy of the permit application is available for public inspection at the Oneonta Public Library. Written comments, objections, requests for public hearing or requests for informal conferences concerning the permit should be sent to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission, P.O. Box 239210, Jasper, AL 35502-239210, within 30 days of the last date of publication.

Representatives from the MCoal Corporation are expected to attend the county commission work session on July 9, according to Spraggins. They will discuss impact of mining operations on county roads and address other questions raised by commissioners and staff at that time.

In addition, a public hearing will be scheduled on the proposed project in mid-August, according to Robert Allen, penalty assessment manager at the Alabama Surface Mining Commission in Jasper. Details on time and place are not yet final, and will be announced later. He said the hearing will be held at the commission’s Jasper office, unless a request is made from concerned citizens for it to be held locally in Blount County.

The Rosa Mine was initially mined from 1965 to 1978, using bench strip-mining techniques. The method was used mainly along the fringes of the Rosa coal deposit, leaving a stripped highwall suited for auger mining, with a remaining large underground reserve.

The company apparently intends to use auger and strip-mining methods to recover about 2 million tons of coal, with an additional 3 million tons to be recovered by underground mining methods. Its goal is to begin mining operations in September this year at an initial rate of 150,000 tons per year.