Background
The real property consists of all surface rights, coal and coal rights on the underlying four separate tracts or parcels of land, containing approximately 572.75 acres in the aggregate located in Holly District, Webster Country, West Virginia.
Features
The Real Property consists primarily of undeveloped forested land with terrain consisting of multiple ridgetops, steep hillslopes and stream valleys associated with the Elk River. The Real Property is located on ridgetop/hillslope complex between the Right Fork Holly River and the Elk River. The regional landscape of the area, including the Real Property, are mixed mesophytic hardwood forests, characterized by a rich diversity of broadleaf tree species. The topography is mountainous, with maximum and minimum elevations of approximately 2,340 feet above mean sea level and 1,290 feet above mean sea level, respectively. The area surrounding the Real Property is rural and largely undeveloped.
Location
The Real Property is located on ridgetop/hillslope complex between the Right Fork Holly River and the Elk River and is accessible from the west via County Route 7 (Elk River Road), with its centroid coordinate being approximately 38.573035º, – 80.471295º.
Geology
The Real Property lies in the Appalachian Plateau province, which spans from Alabama to New York. The Appalachian Plateau province of West Virginia is an area underlain by siliciclastic and carbonate sedimentary rocks deposited in the Appalachian Basin during the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago).
The Geological Exploration Report states that the subsurface consists primarily of interbedded sandstone, siltstone, shale, and bituminous coal belonging to the Allegheny and Kanawha Formations. The weighted average quality of the coal resource on the Real Property is 7.4% ash, 1.06% sulfur, and 14,119 BTU/lb, on a dry basis, at a 1.50 float.
According to the Geological Exploration Report, the Real Property contains approximately 7,533,250 U.S. tons in-place coal resources. However, according to GeoLogic, after taking into account overburden, required setbacks from easements, roads, property lines, pit slope angles, access roads, non-mineable areas and cut/fill areas to accommodate overburden removal and storage, the recoverable resources on the Real Property are estimated at 4,955,428 U.S. raw tons of which amount approximately 2,392,931 “clean” coal tons are estimated. From this amount, 65.4% is classified as a “measured mineral resource” and the remaining 34.6% is classified as an “indicated mineral resource, on a clean basis.
West Virginia coal production remains relatively high as of the valuation date, fueled by ongoing demand for steel, coal pricing is anticipated to decline slightly but remain at levels which support production in the region for the foreseeable future and there has been evidence of consistent strong demand for the foreseeable future, and the Real Property is advantageously placed within one of the strongest states for coal production with access to ports for global sale.
