9 March 2099 — Arch Coal Inc. will buy Rio Tinto's Jacobs Ranch mine in Wyoming's Powder River Basin for $761 million. In 2008, Jacobs Ranch produced 42.1 million tons of sub-bituminous coal for sale to power generators.
The transaction includes 381 million tons of coal reserves contiguous to Arch's Black Thunder mine, as well as a high-speed rail loadout; a recently added overland conveyor and near-pit crushing system; customer commitments and a fleet of mining equipment.
Arch's PRB reserves would grow to 2.1 billion tons and its total reserve base across all regions would increase to 3.2 billion tons, assuming an acquisition closing date of Dec. 31, 2008. Jacobs Ranch's existing reserve base has an average heat content of more than 8,800 Btus per pound, and a sulfur-dioxide content of less than one pound per million Btus.
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