The Landree underground steam coal mine in southern Indiana is back in production and its new owners intend to resume shipments to Indianapolis Power & Light in May, a company official confirmed Wednesday.
"We started running coal last week," Craig Beck, a managing member of Pickaxe Indiana, said in an interview. "We haven't started the prep plant yet." Pickaxe was formed to operate the mine following a federal bankruptcy court-approved sale of Lily Group, Landree's former owner, to LC Energy Holdings LLC/Platinum Partners of New York.
According to Beck, the prep plant, which can process 170 st/hour, should be back in operation next week.
The new owners are under court order to start supplying 20,000 st/month, or a total of 160,000 st for the rest of the year, to IP&L, an AES Corp. subsidiary, starting May 1.
Beck said discussions are under way with other potential coal customers, although he declined to elaborate.
Landree had been idled since last September 16, about a week before Lily Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.