Bowie Resource Partners

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This page was last updated on August 23, 2023.

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Overview

Bowie Resource Partners came to Utah in 2013 with the purchase of the Canyon Fuel properties from Arch Coal Company.

The Bowie company was reorganized in 2018 as Wolverine Fuels.

Bowie/Wolverine Properties

Banning Loadout

Utah DOGM Coal File C0070034

Opened in 1979 by Soldier Creek Coal Company; closed in 2000 by Arch Coal

(Read more about the Banning Coal Loadout)

Dugout Canyon Mine

Utah DOGM Coal File C0070039

Development (roads, etc.) started in 1996 by Canyon Fuel; production started in 1998 by Canyon Fuel

(Read more about the Dugout mine)

Skyline Coal Project

Utah DOGM Coal File C0070005

Development started in 1980; production started in 1982 by Coastal States

(Read more about the Skyline mine)

Soldier Creek Coal Co.

Utah DOGM Coal File C0070018

Development began in 1975; production began in 1976, by Soldier Creek Coal Company

(Read more about the Soldier Creek mine)

Sufco (Southern Utah Fuel Co.)

Utah DOGM Coal File C0410002

Development began in 1910, by Southern Utah Fuel company; production began in 1911

(Read more about the Sufco mine)

Timeline

Bowie, 2013

August 16, 2013
Bowie Resource Holdings completed its purchase of 100 percent interest of Canyon Fuel Company, a subsidiary of Arch Coal Company. The purchase included the Soldier Canyon mine, along with the Dugout Canyon mine, the Banning loadout, the Sufco mine, and the Gordon Creek mines (previously owned by Mountain Coal Company). The purchase agreement was first signed on June 27, 2013.

August 19, 2013
"Arch Coal, Inc. today announced that it has completed the sale of its subsidiary, Canyon Fuel Company, LLC to Bowie Resources, LLC for $423 million in cash. The sale includes the Sufco and Skyline longwall mines, the Dugout Canyon continuous miner operation and approximately 105 million tons of bituminous coal reserves, all located in Utah." (Arch Coal, Inc., press release dated August 19, 2013, "today")

September 3, 2013
The first four coal-hauling trucks made the first trips down the newly completed Quitchupah Creek Road. The new road shortens the distance between the Sufco coal mine and the three coal-fired power plants in Carbon and Emery counties that are three of Sufco's largest coal customers. (Richfield Reaper, September 4, 2013)

(The three active coal mines in Utah owned by Bowie included the Sufco mine near Salina, the Skyline mine in Pleasant Valley, and the Dugout Canyon mine northeast of Price.)

(A news item dated October 31, 2017 stated that Bowie Resource Partners was to be sold to a consortium made up of Murray Energy (30.5 percent), a former Bowie CEO (30.5 percent), and the other 39 percent made up of a wide variety of lenders and investors that included Javelin Global Commodities, and Grupo CLISA. The new holding company was to be known as Canyon Consolidated Resources and would own and control the three largest coal mines in Utah. However, the sale fell apart in less than a month and did not materialize. Bowie Resource Partners continued its operations, at least in Utah, for another year. -- Salt Lake Tribune, October 31, 2017; Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2017)

Wolverine Fuels, 2018

October 15, 2018
Bowie Resource Partners, LLC, has changed its corporate name to Wolverine Fuels, LLC. The change included a new office location in Sandy, Utah. (Wolverine Fuels press release dated October 15, 2018)

The following comes from the November 8, 2018 issue of the Sanpete Messenger newspaper:

Bowie appointed a new chief executive officer, and last month it announced it would change its name to Wolverine Fuels, LLC and move its headquarters from Grand Junction, Colo. to Sandy.

Newly appointed Wolverine Fuels CEO James Grech said, "This move will allow the executive team to be closer to our mines, our workforce and our customers."

In regards to the name and location, Grech said, "In conjunction with the recent management changes and recapitalization of the company, we wanted to offer our employees a fresh start and new identity with the name change. Our workforce is tough and resilient, very much like a wolverine, so we think our new namesake will resonate very well with our employees and the communities in which we operate."

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