The coal deposits are Carboniferous in age, being of the Pennsylvanian system, located within the Black Warrior Coal Basin. The regional structure is typically characterized by gently dipping strata to the southeast at less than 2 degrees towards the axis of the Coalburg Syncline. Seams of economic significance typically range between 0.5 feet and 3.1 feet of coal thickness, with relatively little structural deformation.

Due to the relative structural simplicity of the deposits and the reasonable continuity of the tabular coal beds, the principal geological interpretation necessary to define the geometry of the coal deposits is the proper modelling of their thickness and elevation. Both coal thickness and quality data are insufficient to categorize all of the resource as measured and indicated. Additional exploration will be required to convert areas that are currently classified as inferred into measured and/or indicated status. Therefore, there is a reasonable level of confidence in the geologic interpretations required for coal resource determination based on the available data and the techniques applied to the data.

The Mine comprises the highly regarded Mary Lee, Blue Creek, and Newcastle coal seams.

The major structural feature within the Black Warrior coal basin is the Sequatchie anticline trending northeast to southwest through the center of the study area. The Warrior syncline lies to the west of the Sequatchie anticline and the Coalb ........

Black Warrior Minerals is a metallurgical surface mine. The coal is mined by removing the overburden to expose and remove the coal seam and then replace the overburden to its approximate original contour.

Black Warrior has eight million tonnes of metallurgical coal, including the highly regarded Mary Lee and Blue Creek coal seams.

Waste rock is removed by Hitachi 1200 excavators and coal is recovered from each seam with the same machine and loaded into haul trucks. Coal is then trucked half a mile to the top of the pit area where it is screened then loaded on road trucks and hauled 10 miles to a rail loadout operated by the Alabama Power Cooperative.

Frequently at the BWM Mine waste removal and coal recovery is double handled with excavators and front end loaders as opposed to loading direct into haul trucks.

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