Summary:
The primary coal-bearing formations on these properties are situated in the Central Appalachia portion of the Appalachian Plateau structural province.
The coal-bearing formations are Carboniferous in age, being in the Pennsylvanian system which includes the base of the Conemaugh Formation, occurring near the ridge tops in the northern portion of the Leaseco Property; the Allegheny Formation; the upper section of the Kanawha Formation, which comprises the major portions of the exposed ridges; and the New River Formation, which is present below drainage. Surface and shallow subsurface strata consist of fine to coarse-grained sandstones, siltstones, shales, coals, and underclays of the Allegheny Series and Kanawha Group of Pennsylvanian age. The upper approximately three-fourths of the section appear typical of an upper deltaic plane-alluvial plane sequence, heavily dominated by sandstone, and coal seams in this part of the section are generally erratic and subject to rapid changes in thickness and character. The lower approximately one-fourth of the section appears representative of a transitional or lower deltaic plane environment, with siltstone and shale lithologies more prevalent, and coal seams in general exhibiting better regularity and consistency than those in the upper part of the section.
The sediments of the Allegheny, Kanawha, and New River Formations were deposited in a northeast-southwest trending and rapidly subsiding basin in western Virginia, southern West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky. The coal-bearing facies thins rapidly to the north-west into massive marine and deltaic sandstones.
The Maple Property exhibits potential surface and deep mineable reserves within the Middle Kittanning, Stockton-Lewiston, Coalburg, Chilton Rider, Peerless, and Eagle coal seams.
The coal reserves reported herein are typically high-volatile bituminous coals with the exception of the Kittanning A, B, C, D and Eagle horizons, which exhibit some mid-volatile characteristics. The primary coal-bearing formations on these properties are Carboniferous in age, being in the Pennsylvanian system, which includes the base of the Conemaugh Formation; the Allegheny Formation; the Kanawha Formation; and the New River Formation. The average mineable seam thickness for coal horizons in these formations ranges from 2.5 to 6.0 feet, with the exception of the Peerless seam at Leaseco where the minimum is 2.25 feet. Within the subject properties coal zones can locally exceed 9.8 feet where individual coal beds merge to form a single mineable unit. Structurally, the strata on the subject Property exhibit a regional northeast southwest strike and a regional northwestward dip of approximately one to four percent, averaging about three percent and are flat-lying. The seams are generally continuous and non-complex but may vary in thickness and even locally be absent. Furthermore, the seams are unaffected by tectonic deformation.