History

A Company Founded on the Premise of Environmental Responsibility

On June 27, 2008, Phoenix Coal Corporation completed a reverse takeover of Phoenix Coal Inc. (formerly Marimba Capital), which was previously listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.  Phoenix Coal Corporation, originally named Dynamic Separations, Inc., was established in July 2004 with a mandate to develop an environmental technology that would help in the land reclamation and clean-up of old underground coal mines.  The Company’s froth flotation device, developed by the Illinois State Geological Survey and licensed from the University of Illinois, was used for the recovery of saleable coal fines otherwise lost in coal preparation and processing. Phoenix advanced the licensed fines recovery technology from a lab based prototype to a commercial product that successfully recovered coal on a commercial scale at two mine sites in Illinois and Kentucky.  Given the stand-alone economics of a fines recovery business and the opportunity to capitalize on the predicted resurgence in demand for Illinois Basin coal, Phoenix changed its business plan to the acquisition, exploration and development of coal reserves.  Despite the change in its business plan, the Company never lost its commitment to the environment.

Surface Mining at the Muhlenberg County Complex

Phoenix began acquiring active surface mining operations in the summer of 2006.  After closing and integrating six acquisitions in a two-year period, the company grew production to an average run rate of 2.0 – 2.5 million tons per year.

Our Strategy for Growth

Since inception, Phoenix has pursued an aggressive growth strategy of acquiring operating mines and developing greenfield reserves in order to build the scale necessary to support long-term growth.  With a challenging economic environment in 2008 and 2009, Phoenix was not able to complete its planned acquisitions and build critical mass.  The lack of adequate scale led Phoenix to sell the operating surface mines and focus on maximizing the value of the Gryphon Mining Complex (“Gryphon”), a greenfield reserve comprised of the property leases controlled through the acquisition of Pact Resources, LLC and the Petersburg sublease. 

In total, Gryphon contains 46.1 million tons of proven and probable underground reserves plus an additional 28.1 million tons of surface and underground measured and indicated resources.  The reserve has tremendous strategic value due to three factors:

     Geographic Advantage:  Gryphon is located within 45 miles of nine coal fired power plants.

     Transportation Advantage:  Gryphon’s location along major transportation arteries enables coal to be shipped to customers via rail, barge, truck or conveyor belt.

     Quality Advantage:  Gryphon’s reserves contain low-chlorine coal that is desired by utilities burning Illinois Basin coal.