US coal auctions will test industry appetite for Trump mining revival

(Reuters) -The Trump administration will make coal contracts contracts on federal lands in four US states in the coming days, a major test of the mining industry in its efforts to revive a sector in a decrease.

Sales in Alabama, Montana and Utta and Wyoming will be the first since the administration of President Donald Trump has been deployed to support the coal industry while increasing access to federal lands and hundreds of millions of dollars for more coal power stations.

Coal production in the United States decreased by 40 % between 2013 and 2023, according to energy information management, due to the acquired environmental regulation and competition from natural gas. During the same period, the federal spaces under the lease of coal mining decreased by 11 %.

The administration of former President Joe Biden has stopped issuing new coal contracts on federal lands. Trump pledged to revive the program so that coal could fuel more high electricity demand in the country associated with artificial intelligence.

If the lease contracts are issued, companies will pay the average property rights by 7 % for the federal government, a decrease of 12.5 % or 8 % before the Trump tax law was passed earlier this year.

The National Mining Association, a commercial group in the industry, said that sales are expected to attract great attention.

“With the accelerating energy needs only, and a managing managing properly appreciates reliable fuel sources at reasonable prices, American coal producers are in a good position to achieve the maximum benefit from new rental opportunities to respond to the call to increase local coal,” NMA spokeswoman Ashley Burke said in an email.

Competitive sales will start on Tuesday with two decades in the province of Tuscunusa, Alabama. Rental contracts are the right to the mine under 14,050 acres (5686 hectares) of private lands and is estimated to contain 53 million tons of coal used in the steel industry.

The surroundings of Warrior Met Coal cars are located, which was first applied to rent additional areas in 2009.

The Ministry of Interior’s Land Management Office will follow the process of selling Alabama with one in Utah on Wednesday. Track Little Eccles extend over 120 acres in Emery and contains an estimated 1.29 million tons of recovered charcoal. The plan for the Canyon Fuel Company application, which runs the adjacent Skyline mine, responds.

On October 6, BLM will provide 1262 acres in Montana with 167.5 million tons expected of recovered charcoal. Two days later, the auction will make 3508 acres in Wyoming with an estimated 365 million tons of recovered charcoal. Navajo Transitional Energy Company, owned by Navajo Nation, runs mines in those areas and applied to BLM to submit rental contracts.