POMEROY — So far Gatling, Ohio has invested between $50-55 million of its $75 million budget to build its coal mining operation outside Racine.

Sam Hatcher, Gatling, Ohio spokesperson, added the company may be coming in under that $75 million budget as he spoke to those gathered at yesterday’s Meigs County Chamber of Commerce’s Business-Minded Luncheon.

Hatcher gave Chamber members an update on the project which may see coal on the ground by the end of this week or end of January. Hatcher added there are already around 100 people working at the site and he expected around 200 total would be on the job by the first of July. There are currently 30 coal miners on site.

Hatcher said the air shafts into the mine were recently completed. Each shaft is 12-feet in diameter while one is 250-feet long and the other is 350-feet long in total depth. The drill bit used to drill these holes was 14-feet in diameter.

Hatcher said the refuse disposal area was complete and the electricity running to the facility was about a month away. He described the coal prep plant as a “massive undertaking” at six stories high and 80-feet by 80-feet in dimensions. Hatcher guessed this facility would be ready in late February. The plant will officially be called the Buckeye Plant while the mine will officially be called the Yellowbush Mine.

Meigs Point Dock, the mine’s barge loadout facility has two permits still pending though Hatcher said he hopes these issues will be resolved in time to put the dock into operation by mid-April or May. If the permits are later than this, Hatcher said it’s possible some trucking could be used to transport the coal as a temporary solution to moving product.

The organization feels it can sell/barge coal to eight facilities within its “economic range.” Hatcher said although the coal reserves at Gatling’s Big River Mine in New Haven, W.Va. are committed to the Mountaineer Plant, the coal reserves from Yellowbush are not.

Hatcher also stressed the method for mining this coal is room and pillar, not longwall mining. Hatcher said Gatling does longwall in Illinois but that is not the plan for Meigs County. He said there will be no “retreat mining” done in Meigs County and that the company obviously doesn’t want roof falls and has made a “diligent effort” to design the mine so that doesn’t happen.

Hatcher praised local officials for working with the company as well as local contractors. The only problem he said he’s encountered is the housing shortage in the county. The company has purchased 38 homes to house employees and 10 cabins at Kountry Resort. He added he has spoken to Meigs County Commissioner Mick Davenport about a housing development.

Hatcher said they need experienced employees and need to keep them via housing and wages which range from $22 an hour to $40 for some positions, including a 90/10 medical plan. Hatcher said experienced workers can then help train those with less experience (red hats) who are limited as to what they can do in a coal mine in some cases.

Hatcher predicted the Yellowbush Mine has a life of around 20 years.

Yesterday’s luncheon was catered by Bun’s Party Barn and held at the Pomeroy Library.