This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
The Trump administration is giving the go-ahead to more coal mining in northeastern Wyoming.
The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is opening up about 850 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acres in the state’s Powder River Basin, which produces the majority of the nation’s coal. The expansion will add onto the southwest corner of the Antelope Mine.
The West Antelope II South Tract Mining Plan Modification is expected to produce an extra 14.5 million tons of coal. That’s just shy of what the mine produced in 2024, a particularly low production year. According to project documents, this will extend the life of the entire mine by half a year, into 2037.
Gov. Mark Gordon applauded the expansion and noted additional decisions in the works, like expanding the Black Butte Mine in Sweetwater County.
“While this announcement is a positive step forward, we are also keenly aware of a pending decision on the Black Butte Mine expansion in Sweetwater County, which was also halted by the previous administration,”
Gordon said.
Under the Biden administration, new coal development was hampered by strengthened climate goals and increased regulations on the fossil fuel industry. Additionally, Biden ended new coal mining in the Powder River Basin. The Trump administration is working to roll back that work, in part with the “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry” executive order. DOI announced on Aug. 12 it’s using emergency authorities under the order to accelerate permitting reviews for the Black Butte project.
However, increased production won’t necessarily mean increased revenues for Wyoming. Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill lowered how much companies pay to the feds and state for the coal they mine on federal land. That could mean $50 million less annually for Wyoming.
