The “organic” mineral being investigated is bituminous coal. Coal is a readily combustible sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. It is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly silica, sulfur, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

These coal deposits are Pennsylvanian in age, are classified as sedimentary, and are associated with other sedimentary rock types in cyclothems, which are repeating sequences of sandstones, mudstones, claystones, limestones, and coal - the result of swamp burial and deposition of sediments in near-coastal settings, amid various cycles of transgressing and regressing seas. Unlike many mineral deposits that are contained within beds of various rock types and are often intrusive and unconformable with respect to the host rock, coal deposits primarily exist as beds themselves, due to the burial and compression of large volumes of organic matter that accumulated in swamps of great lateral extent. Unless post depositional erosion has taken place, coal beds are usually conformable with the bedding with which they are in contact.

The projects are located, structurally speaking, in the Appalachian Plateau physiographic province. This physiographic province is characterized by a series of large folds (anticlinoriums and synclinoriums), with axes trending northeast-southwest and gently dipping limbs. In this region of Pennsylvania and Maryland the coal seams found on the project sites are horizontally continuous beds, except where eroded or previously mined.

In this area coals are ranked by ASTM International (formerly American Society of Testing and Materials) in the bituminous high, mid, and low-volatile groups and the low to mid-volatile coals are known world-wide for their superior coking characteristics. ASTM defines the coal groups by volatility according to the following parameters: The low-volatile coal group contains fixed carbon in the range of 78 to 86% and volatile matter 14 to 22%; The mid-volatile coal group contains fixed carbon in the range of 69 to 78% and volatile matter 22 to 31%. Those coal seams that do not exhibit strong coking coal characteristics are steam or thermal coals of high calorific value. The coal seams found on these project sites and in this area of Pennsylvania meet the specifications for these groups for fixed carbon and volatile matter and are often additionally characterized in their raw state by as-received basis low to moderate sulfur content (< 2.0%), low to moderate ash content (< 12.0%), high calorific value (>12,000 BTU’s), and high free swelling indexes (>7.0).

The economically mineable coal seams that are not exhausted and are accessible beneath the properties included in these projects include the Upper Freeport, Lower Freeport, Upper Kittanning, Middle Kittanning, and Lower Kittanning seams. Where not affected by pre depositional basin constraints or post depositional erosion they generally range in thickness from 2.0 to greater than 5.0 feet in thickness.

NAPP operated the Ashes Mine, a surface mine utilizing contour and high wall mining methods.

The run-of-mine product, subsequent to screening at the site, is trucked to WCE’s preparation facility, a heavy-media plant with a rated capacity of 400 tons per hour. The plant is designed to process coarse and fine coal at various specific gravities. There are three (3) primary plant circuits: Heavy Media Cyclone circuit (2” x 1mm), Spiral circuit (1mm x 100 mesh) and Column Floatation circuit (100 mesh x 0). The approximate plant feed reporting to each is 70% to HMC circuit, 23% to spiral circuit and 7% to column circuit. The HMC circuit uses magnetite as the processing media, the spiral circuit uses gravity and the column floatation circuit uses two chemicals (a frother reagent and a collector conditioner - diesel fuel). Electrically, the plant runs on 4 transformers totaling approximately 5000 KVA.