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U of Alabama's Coal mineral rights
Posted on 11/8/13 at 11:54 am
Posted on 11/8/13 at 11:54 am
Can someone elaborate more on these holdings. From what I understand Univeraity of Alabama has about $1 billion dollars in coal mineral rights but they can't be mined because they are protected by the government?
Supposedly if they were mined our endowment would be much larger than it is now...
Supposedly if they were mined our endowment would be much larger than it is now...
Posted on 11/8/13 at 11:59 am to cjared036
I thought it was potentially several billion dollars worth and they've been seeking requests for proposals to lease the land.
Posted on 11/8/13 at 12:00 pm to cjared036
quote:
Supposedly if they were mined our endowment would be much larger than it is now...
I'm not sure if we should sell the rights because of how it is a reparation for the campus being destroyed.
I don't want to accept the 'payment' in honor of those that died to defend campus. Their lives and those bricks were worth more than a few dollars or some coal land.
[edit: If UA needs money that bad I would seriously try to rally donations, UA doesn't need to sell that land or those rights]
This post was edited on 11/8/13 at 12:02 pm
Posted on 11/8/13 at 12:06 pm to cjared036
I don't know about the government limiting their ability to be mined. Some of them are in environmentally sensitive areas where the most efficient method of extraction - strip mining - would also pose the potential for significant impact on the Black Warrior river. Other coal beds are suitable for shaft mining, but with the current economic climate, opening new shaft mines may not be very profitable. Most Alabama coal is high sulfur, which means it creates more sulfur dioxide and requires more "scrubbing" of the stacks, which adds money to the fuel costs and makes it less competitive. The Chinese, though, don't care about that, but there's so much easy to get at coal in the US that it'll probably be a while before the market changes too much.
The coal holding were given to the university in 1880 as reparations for the US Army destroying the campus in April 1865. The deal was negotiated through the senate by John Tyley Morgan, Alabama "Ambassador to the United States," father of legal segregation and the "Isthmian Canal" (though he wanted to build it in Nicaragua). For nearly a century after that, the central steam plant used UA coal to generate steam to heat campus buildings (they switched to natural gas several years ago and tore down the giant chimney that was used in coal-fired boilers). Money from coal built Manly and Clark Halls and there are still numerous faculty endowments on campus that are supported by coal royalties.
You can view all UA land holdings here.
The coal holding were given to the university in 1880 as reparations for the US Army destroying the campus in April 1865. The deal was negotiated through the senate by John Tyley Morgan, Alabama "Ambassador to the United States," father of legal segregation and the "Isthmian Canal" (though he wanted to build it in Nicaragua). For nearly a century after that, the central steam plant used UA coal to generate steam to heat campus buildings (they switched to natural gas several years ago and tore down the giant chimney that was used in coal-fired boilers). Money from coal built Manly and Clark Halls and there are still numerous faculty endowments on campus that are supported by coal royalties.
You can view all UA land holdings here.
Posted on 11/8/13 at 12:22 pm to cjared036
is that in terms of todays value. US Coal is a dying industry and just a small percentage of what it used to be even a short time ago
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