Andalex Genwal

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This page was last updated on February 6, 2025.

Overview

Andalex Resources was a privately-held company that first came to Utah in 1978 with the purchase of the Pinnacle mine in Carbon County, about 8-1/4 miles north east of Price in Deadman Canyon.

Andalex Resources was sold to Murray Energy in 2006. In the time between 1978 and 2006 Andalex purchased full or part-control of the Pinnacle mine in Deadmand Canyon, along with the Wildcat loadout and the Genwal mine in Crandall Canyon.

(Read more about Andalex Resources)

Genwal Mine (1986-2007)

(Crandall Canyon) (Utah Coal Permit C0150032)

(Unless noted, the following is summarized from documents on file at the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, Permit C0150032)

Coal mining had been conducted in Crandall Canyon from November 1939 to September 1955, with a lull from 1955 to 1983. Coal was produced from this operation during the period of 1940 through 1955 and was sold locally for domestic use. The original federal coal lease had been in the name of John Sanders, a farmer, truck driver and coal mine operator living in Fairview. The Genwal mine proposal of 1980 included entering old workings (old Tip Top mine) and mining two seams of coal.

After Sanders died in May 1976, in April 1980 the heirs of John F. Sanders assigned the Crandall Canyon coal lease to Genwal Coal company. At the same time in 1980, the Sanders heirs also assigned an adjacent coal lease to Gent Flying Enterprises, a charter company based in Honaker, Virginia, flying a single helicopter. Gent Flying Enterprises later assigned their coal lease to Genwal. In May 1985, Robert Gent was shown as vice president of Genwal Coal Company.

December 17, 1980
Genwal made its initial application to mine the Crandall Canyon coal lease on December 17, 1980. Documents and mine plans dated in March 1980 show Genwal Coal Company as the proposed operator of the Crandall Canyon mine.

November 24, 1982
The federal Office of Surface Mining approved Genwal's permit to commence mining operations, at which time Genwal was legally allowed access to the area to be leased, and to begin development of underground access tunnels and haulage ways, surface facilities, such as roads, buildings, coal storage areas, truck loading sites, and portal entries. This initial lease was for 256 acres. An additional 640 acres was added to the lease in October 1983.

The lower Blackhawk Formation of the Wasatch Plateau is known to contain two mineable seams in the general area of Crandall Canyon. These two seams are locally referred to as the Hiawatha (lower seam) and Blind Canyon (upper seam) seams. Drilling which began in March of 1985 revealed that the upper (Blind Canyon) seam was not of mineable thickness in the Crandall Canyon (north) lease area, but the lower (Hiawatha) seam was minable. In the South Crandall lease area both seams were mineable.is mineable.

As part of its development of the Crandall Canyon lease, Genwal committed to drilling exploratory "up-holes" from the lower Hiawatha seam, through the 150 feet of cover materail that separated the lower seam from the upper seam. The "up-holes" were drilled every half-mile in the main haulage ways of the lower Hiawatha seam to determine the mineability of the upper Blind Canyon seam. Based on the results of the "up-holes," the BLM determined the upper seam was not mineable and during 1985, approval was given by both the BLM and the Utah agency to commence pillaring of the lower seam.

The thickness of the lower Hiawatha coal seam varied throughout the lease area. Active mining was limited to a minimum of 5 feet, the minimum for economic recovery, to a maxium of 8 feet, the limit of mining equipment. The average thickness was 7-1/2 feet, and varied from 4-1/2 feet to 11 feet.

July 1984
Genwal submitted its application to the Utah Division of Oil Gas and Mining, the final approving agency, which required a full and complete reclamation plan for the period after mining operations ceased.

May 1985
Genwal was shipping limited amounts of coal taken as part of the development of necessary haulage tunnels and air passageways. The coal was being dumped over a high wall at the portal, onto a temporary storage pile, then loaded into trucks using a front-end loader. These limited shipments of coal from the Genwal mine in Crandall Canyon was trucked to the C. V. Spur (later Savage Coal Terminal) on the former D&RGW south of Price, or to the Wildcat loadout on Utah Railway.

The final environmental impact statement was approved by the Utah agency on September 30, 1985, allowing active mining to begin after the required 30-day period of public comment.

January 1986
Genwal received its final approval for the Crandall Canyon mine. This final approval included all the required studies and the mine reclamation plan, and with this approval in place, production started, although there had already been extensive development work within the new mine.

December 1988
Genwal Coal Company was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nevada Electric Investment Company (NEICO), which purchased Genwal in December 1988. At the time, Genwal operated a single coal mine in Utah. (Coal Age magazine, August 1990, page 31)

In 1988 Genwal Coal company was purchased by Nevada Power company, which had recently sold its coal leases in the undeveloped Alton Coal Field near Bryce Canyon National Park. (St. George Daily Spectrum, January 18, 1989)

1990-1991
An automated truck loading silo was installed in 1990, and a dual crusher and screen coal processing plant was installed in 1991.

July 11, 1991
The lease was assigned to the joint ownership (undivided half interest each) of Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) and Nevada Electric Investment Company (NEICO), retaining the Genwal Coal company name. At the same time, the IPA and NEICO partnership was awarded a state coal lease, expanding the area for potential coal extraction.

The 50 percent held by NEICO was held by its subsidiary company, Castle Valley Resources, Inc., which was treated as the sales arm of NEICO's overall parent company Sierra Pacific Resources. Castle Valley Resources registered to do business in Utah on December 29, 1989.

NEICO was a direct subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources of Reno, Nevada, with another Sierra Pacific subsidiary, Nevada Power, providing retail electric service to over 1 million customers in Clark County, Nevada. Another Sierra Pacific subsidiary, Sierra Pacific Power, provides retail electric service to almost 300,000 retail customers in northern Nevada and northeastern California, as well as natural gas to more than 100,000 customers in northwestern Nevada. Sierra Pacific Power also provides wholesale electric power from its North Valmy Generating Station near Battle Mountain.

The Genwal Coal company mine in Crandall Canyon was opened as a joint project of IPP and Castle Valley Resources, a subsidiary of Nevada Electric Investment Company (NEICO). NEICO also owned, since 1989, the site of the former U. S. Steel coal washing plant at Wellington, where it planned to load rail cars for the trip to either Nevada Power company plants or to the Intermountain Power Plant near Delta.

May 1993
Mohrland Loadout -- "The coal from the mine will be transported to the rail loadout or final destination by truck. The trucks are typical 45-ton tandem trailer coal haulers used in the Utah coal fields. Genwal uses a loading site on the Utah Railway located at Mohrland, Utah, a loading facility on the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in Wellington, Utah, and other independently owned loadouts within the Carbon/Emery county area."

In September 1993, and again in March 1994, the IPA and NEICO partnership obtained additional coal leases, public and private, expanding the total area of coal extraction.

October 1993
Failed Sale -- Nevada Electric Investment Company (NEICO) notified state regulators that it was conveying 100% of the stock of Genwal Coal Company to Utah Energy Development Company, Inc. (UEDC). In addition, NEICO's 50% undivided interest in the Crandall Canyon Mine currently held in joint tenancy with Intermountain Power Agency (IPA), will be conveyed to UEDC. The transfer did not take place until after the required approval by regulators, including a 30-day of public notice. Due to other difficulties, in February 1994 UEDC withdrew its proposed purchase of NEICO's interest in the Genwal mine. (UEDC had become involved with the purchase of the Hiawatha Mines Complex by American Fuel Corporation.)

March 1994
Mohrland Loadout -- "New Coal Loadout Facility being proposed -- Emery County may soon have a new coal loadout facility located on federal lands administered by the BLM. The BLM is processing a right-of-way application for a coal loadout facility for Genwal Coal Company. Genwal proposes to construct the facility near the old mining town of Mohrland, located approximately 10 miles northwest of Huntington adjacent to Utah Railroad's rail spur. Planned facilities at the site include a new access road, powerline, water pipeline, conveyors, stackers, hoppers, and office and shower facilities. The coal will be transported approximately 17 miles from the Crandall Canyon mine to the loadout. The proposed facility will handle unit trains up to 10,000 tons of coal per trip. Plans anticipate loading one train every two to three days. Construction plans call for May start up and completion by September." (Utah Coal News newsletter, March 1994)

March 23, 1995
NEICO sold its 50 percent interest in Genwal Coal company, and the Crandall Canyon mine, to Andalex Resources, Inc., using a newly created company Genwal Resources, Inc. The sale had first been announced on December 12, 1994, and the sale was approved after the required regulatory review and 30-day public notice. The Intermountain Power Agency retained its 50 percent interest in the Genwal mine.

In 1997, a major expansion of the surface facilities was performed in order to accommodate longwall mining at the Crandall Canyon #1 Mine by Genwal Resources, Inc. The 1997 expansion included a new truck loading facility.

During 1998 and 1999, coal from the Crandall Canyon mine was trucked to Hiawatha and loaded by front-end loader into rail cars for shipment by Utah Railway to Genwal's customers. This movement was in response to the lack of capacity at Andalex's Wildcat loadout, also on Utah Railway.

March 2003
The coal lease for the South Crandall Canyon mine was awarded to Genwal Resources, and the mine opened in 2004. The Crandall Canyon #1 and South Crandall Canyon mines utilized the same surface facilities for their respective operations. Due to economic conditions, the South Crandall Canyon mine was idled in 2006, while the Crandall Canyon Mine continued mining operations.

August 9, 2006
UtahAmerican Energy, Inc. acquired the Utah coal mines owned by Andalex Resources, including the Crandall Canyon mines. UtahAmerican Energy continued mining operations at the Crandall Canyon site until August 2007, when an accident forced the closure of the Crandall Canyon No. 1 Mine. Since that time, the mine has been in "temporary cessation" status. The South Crandall Canyon mine was placed in "temporary cessation" status a month later. At the time operations ceased, the Crandall Canyon coal mine encompassed a total of 5,194 acres of federal and state coal leases.

UtahAmerican Energy was a subsidiary of Murray Energy. (Read more about Murray Energy and the coal mines it owned in Utah)

August 6, 2007
"The Crandall Canyon #1 mine experienced a severe seismic event on August 6, 2007. Another significant seismic event was experienced on August 16, 2007. These events have lead to production being idled at both Crandall Canyon #1 and South Crandall mines. At this time the extent of the damage caused by the accident and the corrective action to be taken is unknown. This idling or cessation is to be considered temporary but its duration is unknown." "All equipment will be removed from both mines. Most but not all of the conveyor belting, conveyor structure, and water pipe will be removed." (Genwal Resources to Utah Division of Oil Gas and Mining, letter dated September 20, 2007)

(Read the Wikipedia article about the Crandall Canyon Disaster)

Many have disputed the "seismic event" cause, stating that improper and excessive blasting during mining operations was the cause of the accident, and resulting deaths.

In 2013, UtahAmerican Energy, Inc. relinquished all of the federal and state coal leases related to the Crandall Canyon No. 1 mine, while retaining the coal leases for the South Crandall mine. When the subsurface federal coal leases for the Crandall Canyon No. 1 mine were relinquished, the surface rights to the northern portion of the surface facilities in Crandall Canyon reverted back to the U.S. Forest Service.

UtahAmerican had applied to develop the South Crandall Canyon coal lease located to the south, accessed from the surface facilities at the Crandall Canyon mine, to be known as the Princess mine, but as of late 2018, the South Crandall (Princess) mine was still idle.

October 21, 2020
"Murray Energy Holding, Co. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 protection on October 29, 2019 and emerged from bankruptcy on September 16, 2020 as a newly formed company: American Consolidated Natural Resources, Inc. As such, Murray Energy's subsidiary company Genwal Resources, Inc. will transfer the above referenced permit and Mine Recovery Plan to the newly formed Utah Land Resources, Inc. We request that the Genwal Resources, Inc. Crandall mine is changed to Utah Land Resources, Inc. Princess Mine." (Letter, Utah Land Resources to Utah DOGM, dated October 21, 2020) (The change was approved in July 2021.)

As of March 2024, the mines (Crandall Canyon and South Crandall Canyon) were inactive and had been inactive since the tragedy of August 2007.

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