Tour 1 - Washington DC:

Arch Coal – Cumberland River Coal Company Pardee Preparation Plant, Arch Coal – Lone Mountain Preparation Plant, Decanter Screenbowl plant, and Washington, DC.

April 29, 2010

Leave the Marriott Griffin Gate by bus for Norton, Virginia

April 30, 2010

Leave Norton by bus for the Arch Coal - Cumberland River Coal Company Pardee Preparation Plant

The Pardee Preparation Plant is a 750 tph raw coal feed plant located outside of Norton, Virginia. The plant produces metallurgical and thermal coal using a double deck raw coal screen, dense media vessel, dense media cyclones, compound spirals, and deslime column flotation.

Leave the Pardee Preparation Plant and drive to the Arch Coal – Lone Mountain Processing Plant

Arch Coal’s Lone Mountain Processing Plant is located in St. Charles, Virginia. In 2004, the nominal 1,300 tph plant was upgraded to include two-stage spirals and an ultrafine desliming circuit with column flotation. Belt presses, which dewatered fine refuse, were replaced in 2007 by a paste thickener – one of the first applications of this technology on a US coal preparation plant.

May 1, 2010

Leave by bus for the Decanter Screenbowl manufacturing facility



Decanter Machine is a world leader in the manufacture of centrifuges for the coal industry. The Decanter screenbowl centrifuge has earned a reputation as a leader and workhorse in coal preparation plants around the world. Founded in 1983, Decanter has expanded its operations and state of the art manufacturing facility to handle the demands of its customers worldwide.

Leave by bus for Washington, DC

May 2, 2010

Tour Washington, DC
The NOC will provide you maps and points of interest in Washington, DC with the fee for the trip covering your room rates in Washington, DC for the nights of May 1, May 2 and May 3. You will be responsible for your own meals and other non-room expenses from May 1 onward. It has been assumed that you will spend two days touring Washington, DC and will fly out of Washington on May 4. There are frequent trains between Washington, Philadelphia, and New York City if you want to extend your trip.

Tour 2 - Pittsburgh:

State of the Art Coal Preparation and Coal Barge Loading Facilities Ending in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

April 29, 2010

Leave the Marriott Griffin Gate by bus for Charleston, West Virginia

April 30, 2010

Leave by bus to tour the Arch Coal – Cardinal Plant

The Cardinal Preparation Plant was built as part of the Mountain Laurel Complex in 2005 in Sharples, West Virginia. The plant features three parallel 700 tph modules consisting of dense media vessels, dense media cyclones, two-stage spirals and deslimed column flotation. Access for maintenance was built in from day one with an overhead crane capable of reaching the majority of the plant equipment.

Leave Cardinal Plant by bus and travel to Wheeling, West Virginia, staying at Wilson Lodge, Oglebay Park

May 1, 2010

Leave Wilson Lodge by bus for the Consolidation Coal McElroy Mine Preparation Plant and River Loadout



The Consol McElroy Mine was initially developed in 1968 as a continuous miner deep mine in the Pittsburgh #8 Seam. The mine was a Mine-Mouth operation feeding the adjacent American Electric Power Mitchell Power Plant. During the 1990’s the mine was converted to a longwall operation with the coal marketed along the Ohio River using a barge loadout. In 2007 the mine was converted to a dual longwall operation with a new preparation plant and a barge loadout designed for 10,000,000 tpy.

Board the Bellaire Marine Service 1930 Dravo Sternwheeler Tugboat for a trip up the Ohio River (study the various barge loading facilities from the upper deck with your favorite beverage)

Murray Energy Ohio Valley Transloading Barge Loading Facility
Murray Energy operates two Pittsburgh #8 longwall mines in the Captina Creek, Ohio watershed. The washed coal is transported by three continuous operating 8,000 ton trains to the Ohio Valley Transloading facility where it is transloaded to barges on the Ohio River. The facility transloads 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 tpy.

Consolidation Coal Shoemaker Mine


The Consol Shoemaker Mine was the last Pittsburgh #8 Seam longwall mine removing the recovered coal from the mine with mine rail cars. During the past 1.5 years the mine has been at reduced load (only operating development sections with continuous miners) while the rail system has been converted to continuous belt haulage. Parallel to this work the preparation plant has been enlarged and the barge loading facility has been rebuilt to handle 6,000,000 tpy of clean coal.

May 2, 2010

The participants then have the option to stay at Oglebay Park for the day (four golf courses, swimming, zoo, glass museum, tennis, etc), going to Pittsburgh for the day, or flying out of the Pittsburgh Airport. The fee for this trip includes transportation from Wheeling to Pittsburgh or the Pittsburgh Airport on either May 2 or May 3. The NOC will make reservations for you in Pittsburgh or retain your reservation at Wilson Lodge Oglebay Park but you will be responsible for the payment of your room from May 2 on and for your meals after breakfast, May 2.