Reopened Emery Co. coal mine will benefit Permanent School Fund

When officials cut the ribbon earlier this month to reopen the Fossil Rock Mine near Orangeville in Emery County, it marked the beginning of what Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) officials hope will be a major source of income for the state’s Permanent School Fund.

The Trust Lands Administration originally acquired the coal reserves from the federal government in the 1998 Grand Staircase Escalante land exchange. The Fossil Rock Mine lessee, Fossil Rock Resources, which announced the reopening of the mine last fall, expects to eventually extract as many as 3 million tons of coal a year from the mine. Utah’s schoolchildren are the beneficiaries of royalties paid under the coal leases. If production from the mine reached expectations, the portion of the proceeds from the mine that the Trust Lands Administration will eventually deposit into the Permanent School Fund is approximately $10 million annually.

Michelle McConkie, the director of SITLA, was on hand with Fossil Rock Resources leaders and local officials to take part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“Trust Lands is one of the biggest leasing agents for energy production in the state,” said McConkie. “We lease lands for coal extraction, solar energy production, wind farms, geothermal resources, hydrogen storage and more. We have a clear constitutional mandate to generate the most revenue possible for our beneficiaries.”

“We are pleased to partner with Trust Lands to support Utah’s public schools. Fossil Rock Mine will also provide fuel for the generation of low-cost electric power,” said Carson Pollastro, CEO of Fossil Rock Resources.

“I live just a few minutes down the road from here, and I can tell you, everyone around here is thrilled to see the mine open again,” said State Sen. David Hinkins, (R-Orangeville), who represents the area where the mine is located. “It simply would not be possible without SITLA’s resources.”

“The coal industry is critical for so many things there are too many to list,” said Utah Rep. Christine Watkins (R-Logan). “We’re grateful to the Trust Lands Administration for working with the mine owners to help see it start producing again.”

SITLA manages 3.3 million acres of trust lands in Utah. Trust lands are not public lands. Congress allocated trust lands specifically to generate revenue to support designated state institutions — specifically schools in Utah. SITLA is constitutionally mandated to manage the lands and revenues generated from them in the most profitable manner possible for the current beneficiaries and preserve trust assets for future beneficiaries, the institution’s website says.