Kiewit Mining Group applied to expand its Buckskin operation in 2006. It will receive a new 1250 acre lease, adjacent to its existing lease, if the decision is not appealed within the next month.
After the application was lodged and moved into a review in 2006, Kiewit subsequently twice modified the application before a draft environmental impact statement was issued in 2010 and finalised in 2011.
BLM said in a statement that it would announce a lease sale for the new tract at a later date. A record of decision is publicly available for the application.
The Buckskin mine is in Gilette, Wyoming, and produces more than 27Mtpa.
Since 1981, Buckskin has shipped more than 406 million tons of high-quality, low sulfur coal from the Southern Powder River Basin.
The mine has one active open pit and about 150 employees, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
