07/17/08

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) _ Two Ohio companies have bought a majority
stake in the Bull Mountain coal mine near Roundup.

The companies plan up to a 40-fold increase in coal production
and would invest $450 million in the venture, including money for
the construction of a new 35-mile rail spur.

Bull Mountain is Montana's only underground coal mine. It has
struggled with financial difficulties for several years and has
been largely idle since last year.

In the deal announced Thursday, Boich Companies, a Columbus,
Ohio, coal firm, and FirstEnergy, an Akron, Ohio, utility, jointly
acquired 80 percent of the mine and 100 percent of the existing
railway rights of way.

The Greenwich, Conn., investment fund Airlie Group retained a 20
percent stake.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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