About Our Utah Coal and the Horizon Coal Mine
The Horizon Coal Mine is owned and operated by Hidden Splendor Resources, Inc. a fully owned subsidiary of America West Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ OTC: AWSR)America West Resources. Inc. (NASDAQ OTC: AWSR) in 2007, became a public company. Through its subsidiary Hidden Splendors Resources, Inc. it operates the Horizon Coal Mine which is located approximately 11 miles west of Helper, in Carbon County, Utah.
The abundant Horizon Coal Mine produces what is commonly known as "steam coal" which is predominately utilized by power plants to produce affordable and clean energy. The Mines currently employ approximately 70 people.
As a one section mine, the Horizon Coal Mine averaged 280,000 tons of coal per year in the last four years. As a multiple-section mine, our experienced management and board of directors believe the mine can generate between 600,000 and 2,000,000 tons per year.
Coal Mining Operations
The mining operations employed at the Horizon Coal Mine are what is known as "room-and-pillar" operations. A room-and-pillar operation involves creating a network of interconnected tunnels in the coal seam. These tunnels are a result from the excavation of a series of "rooms" into the coal bed, leaving "pillars" or columns of coal to help support the mine roof. The rooms and pillars create what, on a map, looks like a series of city streets and blocks, with the streets being the open rooms and the blocks being the pillars of coal.Using a continuous miner machine, the Horizon Coal miners are able to cut the coal from the seam and place it in shuttle cars, which take the coal from the mining machine to the conveyor belts. The conveyer belts then move the compliant coal out of the mine where it is crushed to size and piled for loading into trucks. Once the coal is on the trucks, it is transported to a variety of America West Resources' clients including several large power plants.
The coal mined at the Horizon Mine is located in the Hiawatha Coal Seam which is in Wasatch Plateau Coal Field. The average height of the coal seam as it runs through the mine is approximately 7 feet. The coal extracted from the Horizon Mine generally has a BTU (British Thermal Unit) value of between 11,500 and 12,300 BTUs. Analysis of the coal produced at the Horizon Mine in August of 2006 has shown BTU levels as high as 12,600. Ash levels in coal substantially affect the value of coal. As it sits in place in the Hiawatha Seam, coal at the Horizon Mine contains ash at levels from 8 percent to 9 percent. Mining of the coal can increase ash levels if the rock on either side of the coal seam is mined and mixed with the coal taken from the seam. The Horizon Mine's ash levels generally test between 8 percent to 12 percent, though conditions in the mine during the first quarter of 2007 have seen higher ash levels.
