Plans for major new Wyoming mine buck pessimism about coal

SHERIDAN, Wyo. (AP) — Coal’s plunging fortunes and notoriety as the fuel blamed most for global warming aren’t discouraging one company from planning Wyoming’s first major coal mine in 40 years.

Kentucky-based Ramaco plans to start mining coal in 2016 at its Brook Mine, a few miles north of the northern Wyoming city of Sheridan.

The company also has purchased coal reserves in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Its goal is to claim a share of the coal market by digging the coal out cheaply and keeping costs down. Wyoming is the top coal-mining state, producing more than 40 percent of the nation’s coal.

©2015 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.