The coal is located in the 77-foot thick Wyodak seam in southeastern Campbell County, Wyoming and is adjacent to Federal and State of Wyoming coal leases to the south held by the North Antelope Rochelle Mine. It is also adjacent to additional unleased Federal coal to the east, north, west, and southwest.
The coal lease sale is being held at the request of Gillette, Wyoming-based Powder River Coal Co. Powder River is a subsidiary of the Peabody Energy, the world's largest coal company.
Bids on the coal tract are due by August 30 at the BLM's Wyoming state office in Cheyenne. Royalties would be paid to the government at a rate of 12.5% on the value of the coal recovered by strip mining and 8% for coal mined underground, plus an annual rent of $3.00 per acre.
Notice of the coal lease sale was published in a recent Federal Register.