Ramaco’s Brook Mine allowed to move forward

Following a hearing Wednesday, the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council dismissed an appeal meant to delay the Brook Mine in Sheridan County.

The action will allow mine owner Ramaco Carbon to proceed with development of the mine, which is in the historic mining area north of Sheridan.

According to Ramaco Carbon CEO Randall Atkins, the mine will supply coal to the company’s research activity and, ultimately, for manufacturing of advanced carbon products and materials.

The appeal was brought by the Powder River Basin Resource Council which, according to a news release from Ramaco, has spent over six years attempting to delay or stop the Brook Mine. Brook is the first new coal mine in Wyoming in over 40 years.

In dismissing the appeal, the environmental equality council affirmed the grant of the mine and reclamation permit issued by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, which formally approved the mine permit in July.

Ramaco Carbon is based on Sheridan, with operations in Wyoming and West Virginia focused on the use of coal to create advanced carbon products and materials such as carbon fibers, building products, rare earth minerals and a variety of graphene-based products.

The company is building the nation’s first vertically integrated carbon tech platform, which includes the Brook Mine, iCAM research park campuses in Wyoming and West Virginia and future iPark mine-mouth manufacturing facilities.