Dec. 2—New technologies are creating a new era in the coal industry, and Wyoming County seems to be sitting in the sweet spot.
For generations, the waste from coal has been abandoned in sludge ponds, gob piles, and impoundments across Wyoming County and the coalfields of southern West Virginia.
With new technologies, those waste products can now be extracted and processed into products that are in great demand across the globe.
Two companies poised to use new technologies are moving into the county: AmeriCarbon Products and Omnis Sublimation Recovery Technologies, both headquartered in Morgantown and both committed to constructing processing plants in Wyoming County.
AmeriCarbon Products is building the United States' first coal-to-carbon processing plant in Wyoming County's new $7 million Barkers Creek Industrial Park, located near Mullens.
In three to five years, converting coal into carbon products is projected to jump from the current $10-billion-a-year industry to a $100-billion-a-year industry — and Wyoming County is expected to play a significant role in the market, according to officials.
Omnis will use coal waste to extract rare earth metals, then sell them for components in cell phones, computers and other electronic devices.
Omnis' technology can extract pure metals from coal impoundment mineral waste using ultra-high heat without acids or harmful chemicals.
The technology recovers 100 percent of the metals, including all critical, strategic, and rare earth metals, with zero waste and no harmful emissions, according to officials.
Coal waste impoundments and gob piles are rich in critical metals, including strategic metals and rare earth metals. Millions of tons of these metals are concentrated from the natural coal seam sources. The coal mining process has concentrated these minerals, and they are available in the multitude of waste impoundments.
"This is a real opportunity for employment in Wyoming County and for our young people," emphasized Mike Goode, Wyoming County Economic Development Authority chairman. "This will be a real boost to our economy just with the jobs. I hope Wyoming Countians will take advantage of these opportunities."
The EDA worked with AmeriCarbon officials for about a year and a half before the announcement was made the company would construct a plant in Wyoming County, Goode noted.
Jason Mullins, county commission president, lauded Gov. Jim Justice for his part in bringing new jobs and new industries into Wyoming County.
"Our governor has really paid attention to Wyoming County. This didn't just happen," he said of Omnis locating in the county. "This required a business plan and a lot of people had to be involved. I just want to thank him for all he's done. We are looking at major growth here in the county."
In addition to the new tech companies, new mining operations are opening in Itmann, Kopperston, Wyco, and Stephenson, Goode noted.
"We're starting to see trains carrying coal again," Goode said. "That's an improvement. There are a lot of good things happening."
"Wyoming County and the southern coalfields have turned upward into what will almost surely be a strong, growing, wealth-generating economic boom," Sen. David "Bugs" Stover, R-Wyoming, believes.
"Traditional coal mining will be a major player in this boom. The new coal-related technologies will be an even bigger player and, along with a rapidly growing tourist industry, will lead us into the proverbial 'promised land'," Stover said.
The two new industries will require different technologies, explained Christy Laxton, Wyoming County Economic Development executive director.
"New industries for Wyoming County are a win for the county, the region, and the state," she said. "These industries are making history in the technology that they are providing and the processes that they will be conducting."
"I don't ever remember Wyoming County having all these opportunities," Goode emphasized. "But these types of things don't happen overnight. It will take time to cross all the t's and dot all the i's.
"This is a new era for the coal industry and for Wyoming County," Goode said.
"I'm really excited about everything that is happening in the county," Mullins emphasized. "I love to talk about the things that are happening here. I think we're catching the beginning of a new era.
"My generation and our children had to move away to find jobs. That is changing. We're sitting on the cutting edge that can provide great-paying jobs with good benefits and give our young people careers, not just jobs, but careers, right here," Mullins said.
"I think that the county is in a great place right now to be able to move on economic development opportunities that we haven't had in the past — like these two new industries," Laxton said.
"Several factors play into this with availability of land at the Barkers Creek Industrial Park, the Coalfields Expressway allowing easier access to Wyoming County, and the new technology and processes for coal and coal waste.
"These allow for economic opportunities in processing as well as then manufacturing the products that can be made from what has been processed.
"Economic development isn't something that happens overnight. It takes hard work and dedication to make economic development happen and the right people are working together in the county, the region, and the state to make it happen," Laxton said.
"Wyoming County has the potential to have the workforce needed for these new industries. These new industries will be good paying jobs and will be an attraction for our young people to stay here in West Virginia," Laxton said.
"Training will be provided by the company. We also have an amazing career and technical center and community college," she emphasized.
"The company could work with the Wyoming County Career and Technical Center and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College to see if there is specific curriculum that they may have to assist with the skills of the workforce that they will need to hire," Laxton said.
While the county is expanding economically, there will be growing pains, Mullins noted.
One of the growing pains the county will likely face is the lack of housing.
In Wyoming County, 87 percent of land is owned by out-of-state landowners, significantly crippling economic development, officials have said.
"We're going to need housing and we're going to need affordable apartments for people who work in the service industry," Mullins said.
"There isn't much to choose from right now in the housing market for Wyoming County and southern West Virginia," Laxton noted.
"We also have the current issue of the Coalfields Expressway moving numerous residents from their current locations. The desire is to keep those people in Wyoming County, but we need to have somewhere to put them, and it goes back to the land companies owning so much of the property in Wyoming County and not having a lot of options for available land," she said.
The Coalfields Expressway will take 18 homes in Mullens for the Twin Falls Resort State Park exit.
"If there would be availability of property in the Mullens area, it could easily be developed with housing considering the proximity to the Coalfields Expressway and the Barkers Creek Industrial Park. Homes could be built for those current residents being displaced by the Coalfields Expressway and/or those that are moving in for the new industries.
"We have great schools, great communities, and dedicated people throughout all of Wyoming County, without the hustle and bustle of the city life. We need land and housing in Wyoming County now," Laxton emphasized.
"In the long run, we're going to see new roads, and water and sewer projects go into places you would never have believed you would see it," Mullins said of the anticipated economic boom.
"Coal mining has been the bedrock of West Virginia's economy for 100 years, but has endured extremely hard times for decades," Stover noted.
"Coal has always been cyclical, going up and down since the beginning. Perhaps an up-cycle has started, but the downward trend will not devastate the industry.
"Long-term trends in the world economy will require coal to be mined. Both steam coal and met coal will continue to be mined, but met coal will be in growing demand for decades. We have a lot of met coal, for making steel, and new mines are opening.
"An example is the new mine CONSOL recently opened at the site of the old Itmann operation. They have already loaded four or five trains and shipped coal," the senator said.
"Upwards of 20 mines are adding employment or starting up. In 2021, we had about 750 coal miners working in Wyoming County and, at an average salary of $65,000 a year, the payroll from this one mine will be adding an additional $6.5 million in wages to Wyoming County.
"These kinds of things are starting throughout the southern coalfields," Stover said.
"Coal trucks and coal train cars will be hauling this out of southern West Virginia and this will add additional jobs," Stover emphasized.
"Coal connections with the two new industries will be coming to the coalfields, which could become game changers," he said.
"AmeriCarbon will not be using coal for its hydrogen content, but for its carbon. They will hire between 50 and 100 folks at the start to use mined coal and also coal from slate dumps, etc., to make high-impact plastics used in helmets and in impact-resistant parts of cars, etc.
"AmeriCarbon could be huge," Stover emphasized.
"The other new and cutting-edge company, Omnis, will 'mine' rare earth elements or metals, which have tremendous value and are indeed extremely rare.
"These metals are essential to making windmills, computers, cell phones, and just about every high-tech device one can think of.
"Think of all the supply chain disruptions in things like buying a new car. These rare elements exist in abundance in every slate pile, slush pond, or any other place we've been dumping coal waste for 100 years. Perhaps what we have thrown away has more value than what we sold," Stover noted. "Omnis' environmentally-friendly process could be as big as big gets — worth trillions.
"We're already seeing the growth in tourism and it will continue to expand," Stover said.
"The arrival of the Coalfields Expressway has contributed to a big expansion in our economy around Mullens," Stover said.
"As the Coalfields Expressway makes it to Pineville, then Welch, and then to the interstates in Virginia, it will create another massive and positive impact as a million folks a year will be traveling right through Wyoming County. We will need to convince them to stop and spend money.
"We already have a state park which is gaining visitors by leaps and bounds and a Corps of Engineers lake surrounded by a wilderness area that we need to work with the federal government on a plan to expand its use," Stover said.
R.D. Bailey Lake encompasses 647 acres fed by the Guyandotte River. It includes open water with cliffs along the shore, coves and a backwater section that meanders up the river — all of which is surrounded by 18,000 wooded acres of the R.D. Bailey Lake Wildlife Management Area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the lake project.
Named for Marsh Fork Falls and Black Fork Falls, Twin Falls Resort State Park once possessed isolated farms spread across the rugged terrain. The park still boasts the tranquil beauty of unspoiled landscapes along with the deer and other wildlife that roam the 4,000 acres.
Open year-round, the park features a 47-room resort lodge, with an indoor pool and a fitness room for lodge guests, along with an 18-hole golf course, a driving range located near the golf pro shop, 14 rustic cabins, a 50-site campground, nearly 30 miles of hiking and biking trails, expansive meeting and conference facilities, a gift shop, an 1830s-era pioneer farm, nature programs, picnic areas, playgrounds and a full-service restaurant.
Additionally, the county also hosts the Hatfield-McCoy Recreational Trail system, the Coal Heritage (Highway) Trail, a National Scenic Highway; the Virginian Railway Heritage Trail, which extends from Norfolk, Va., to Deep Water, W.Va.; the Great Eastern Trail that extends 1,800 miles from Alabama to New York; and the Guyandotte River Trail that begins at Stonecoal Junction (between Rhodell and Amigo) and ends 160 miles downstream at the Ohio River.
"We are excited to be a part of the opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead with each of the economic development projects that we work on, and we will continue to strive to make all that we do successful and something that the community will be proud of," Laxton emphasized.
"I just really feel like the good Lord is smiling on Wyoming County now," Mullins said.
