Notice2025-17752
Lease for Sale Navajo Transitional Energy Company, Spring Creek Mine Federal Coal Lease-by-Application MTM 105485-01, Big Horn County, MT
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 15, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
Notice is hereby given that Federal coal resources in lands in Big Horn County, Montana, will be offered for competitive lease by sealed bid in accordance with the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 176 (Monday, September 15, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 176 (Monday, September 15, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 44393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-17752]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[A2407-014-004-065516; #O2412-014-004-047181.1]
Lease for Sale Navajo Transitional Energy Company, Spring Creek
Mine Federal Coal Lease-by-Application MTM 105485-01, Big Horn County,
MT
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of coal lease sale.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Federal coal resources in lands in
Big Horn County, Montana, will be offered for competitive lease by
sealed bid in accordance with the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act
of 1920, as amended.
DATES: The lease sale will be held at 10 a.m. Mountain Time (MT) on
October 6, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The lease sale will be held in the Main Conference Room of
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Montana State Office, 5001
Southgate Drive, Billings, Montana 59101. Sealed bids must be submitted
to the cashier, BLM Montana State Office, at this same address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tessa Wallace, telephone: 406-896-
5086; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c3b7afb4a2afafa2a0a683a1afaeeda4acb5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7f0b13081e13131e1c1a3f1d131251181009">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States who
are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may
dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This sale is being held in response to a
lease-by-application filed by Navajo Transitional Energy Company. The
Federal coal resources to be offered are contained in four tracts
located on the following described lands:
Principal Meridian, Montana
T. 8 S., R. 39 E.,
Sec. 35, E\1/2\;
T. 9 S., R. 39 E.,
Sec. 1, lots 1 thru 4, W\1/2\NE\1/4\, NW\1/4\, E\1/2\NW\1/
4\SE\1/4\, and E\1/2\SW\1/4\SE\1/4\;
sec. 2, NE\1/4\.
T. 9 S., R. 40 E.,
Sec. 6, lots 5 thru 7, S\1/2\SE\1/4\NW\1/4\, E\1/2\SW\1/4\, S1/
2NE\1/4\SE\1/4\, NW\1/4\NW\1/4\SE\1/4\, S\1/2\NW\1/4\SE\1/4\, and
S\1/2\SE\1/4\.
The areas described aggregate 1,262.57 acres, according to the
official plats of the surveys on file with the BLM.
The coal in the tracts have two economic coal beds, which are
designated as the Anderson coal bed and the Dietz coal bed. The
Anderson bed overlies the Dietz bed with a thin parting which is taken
with the coal. The Dietz bed is separated into the Upper Dietz and
Lower Dietz beds, the parting of which ranges from inches to feet. The
parting between the upper and lower Dietz beds increases in thickness
to the east and is removed as waste during the mining process. The
Anderson/Dietz beds are present in all four tracts and have a combined
average thickness of 77 feet. The tracts are located adjacent to Spring
Creek's current mining operation and contain approximately 167.5
million tons of mineable coal. The composite coal quality of the
Anderson/Dietz coal beds and splits are as follows: Heat Content (Btu/
lb.) 9,486 Btu/lb.; Moisture 24.8 percent; Ash Content 3.6 percent,
Sulfur Content 0.31 percent.
The tracts will be leased to the qualified bidder of the highest
cash amount, provided that the high bid meets or exceeds the BLM's
estimate of the fair market value (FMV) of the tracts. The minimum bid
for the tract is $100 per acre or fraction thereof. The minimum bid is
not intended to represent FMV. The authorized officer will determine if
the bids meet FMV.
The sealed bids should be sent by certified mail, return receipt
requested, or be hand delivered to the Public Room, BLM Montana State
Office (see ADDRESSES), and clearly marked ``Sealed Bid for MTM 105485-
01 Coal Sale--Not to be opened before 10 a.m. MT on October 6, 2025.''
The Public Room representative will issue a receipt for each hand-
delivered bid. Bids received after 9:30 a.m. MT on October 6, 2025,
will not be considered. If identical high bids are received, the tying
high bidders will be requested to submit follow-up sealed bids until a
high bid is received. All tie-breaking sealed bids must be submitted
within 15 minutes following the sale official's announcement at the
sale that identical high bids have been received.
Prior to lease issuance, the high bidder, if other than the
applicant, must pay the BLM the cost recovery fee in the amount of
$344,773.00, in addition to all processing costs incurred by the BLM
after the date of this sale notice (43 CFR 3473.2(f)).
A lease issued because of this offering will require payment of an
annual rental of $3 per acre, or fraction thereof, and a royalty
payable to the United States pursuant to section 7(a) of the Mineral
Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 207(a)) as amended.
Bidding instructions for the tracts offered and the terms and
conditions of the proposed coal lease are included in the detailed
statement of lease sale, copies of which are available at the BLM
Montana State Office (see ADDRESSES). Documents in case file MTM
105485-01 are available for public inspection at the BLM Montana State
Office Public Room.
(Authority: 43 CFR 3422.2)
Tessa L. Wallace,
Branch Chief, Solid Minerals, BLM Montana/Dakotas.
[FR Doc. 2025-17752 Filed 9-12-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-20-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 15, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.