>Corsa Announces Agreement to Purchase the Casselman Mine and a $25 Million Credit Facility
>TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – March 22, 2011) – Corsa Capital Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:CSO) (“Corsa” or the “Corporation”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement dated March 22, 2011 (the “Agreement”) with the owner of the Casselman mine, Maryland Energy Resources, LLC (“MER”), and the owners of MER, pursuant to which Corsa will acquire MER (the “Casselman Mine Transaction”). The purchase price is US $15,000,000 and the assumption of approximately US $1.2 million of debt. In addition, production from the Casselman Mine is subject to a 1.25 percent royalty in favour of the MER vendors.
The completion of the Casselman Mine Transaction is expected on or about April 21, 2011 and is subject to a number of conditions, including normal closing deliverables, ratification of certain matters with respect to leases and third party consents and approvals. Upon the completion of the Casselman Mine Transaction, MER will be an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Corsa.
Mr. Charter, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Corsa, stated ‘The Casselman Mine will provide us with a permitted long life mine giving us an immediate new source of metallurgical quality coal for our plant and an immediate increase in our expected production.’
The Mine
The Casselman mine will be a long life underground metallurgical coal mine located in Garrett County, approximately two miles south of Grantsville, Maryland, USA. All the necessary permits for this mine are in place and the mine face up has been completed in order to permit mining operations to commence immediately. This project is approximately 31 miles by truck from Corsa’s Wilson Creek coal preparation plant in Somerset County Pennsylvania.
The Casselman Mine is planned to be developed in the Upper Freeport Coal seam. This mine has recently been permitted by Maryland Energy Resources for a total of 2900 acres. The permit area has been drilled extensively with 52 cores extracted, the most recent of which (27) were pulled in 2011 and 2010 by Wilson Creek Energy and others. The results of the most recently extracted cores are in Wilson Creek’s possession and the previous 25 were generated by The Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, in 1952.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/256049#ixzz1HuJRdcKc
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Blog: Five Strikes, And You’re Out: Beitzel Fails On Fracking
>Megan Poinski
Posted March 22, 2011
Megan@MarylandReporter.com
Del. Wendell Beitzel, R-Garrett County, made his support for drilling Marcellus shale to produce natural gas in his corner of the state quite clear on Tuesday morning.
Beitzel offered five unsuccessful amendments to a bill that would require a comprehensive study on the impact and risks of drilling the shale before permits could be issued. The Department of the Environment and the Department of Natural Resources would publish the study, including conclusions and recommendations for legislative changes, by August 2013.
A rig drills a Marcellus shale well in Roulette, Pa. Photo by Laurie Barr
Beitzel is one of the few lawmakers in Annapolis from the mountainous area in far western Maryland where the drilling would take place, and wants it started sooner. Debate on the bill was delayed to give Beitzel time to research and plan amendments.
“The bottom line is Marcellus shale and natural gas extraction can help our state,” Beitzel said.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Vacation Home Market on the Rebound
>Stuart firm concludes harsh winter might have helped
By: Sunshine State News | Posted: March 19, 2011 3:55 AM
After several years of negative trends in the real estate industry, finally a sign of life: A market study just out by a Stuart real estate marketing firm shows budding consumer confidence in the second- or vacation-home market.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that four years ago — unless you count commercial buyers grabbing up ultra-cheap foreclosures — the second-home market was dead as a doornail,” said Rolly Marsh, a market analyst with Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Realtors.
The good news comes via the third annual Cotton Report, which reports a polling of more than 800 participants on housing preferences, motivating factors, pricing levels and timelines for purchase. It included participants from 39 states, Canada, Europe and Latin America.
While no direct correlation was made to the harsh winter temperatures, the research survey did point to a significant increase in the number of homebuyers looking to buy a vacation home — in fact, a year-over-year increase of 800 percent.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Governor O'Malley Visits
>
The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce welcomed Gov. Martin O’Malley and his staff on Monday to release the 2010 Maryland State Parks Economic Impact and Visitor Study, and to discuss tourism and trails in Garrett County. Several other state officials were also in attendance. In this special tourism roundtable meeting at New Germany State Park, chamber members thanked the governor for his support of many county projects, and Nicole Christian, chamber president/CEO, spoke about the importance of and the potential for tourism growth in Garrett County. O’Malley and Christian are pictured.
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If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Spring is 'here to stay' according to observers
>Despite a long and stormy winter, weather experts say spring is officially here to stay in Somerset County.
Warmer temperatures, melting snow and chirping birds are all indications that Punxsutawney Phil’s early spring prediction is proving true – and just in time for the season’s official beginning yesterday…
…Some areas, such as Deep Creek Lake, Md., received up to 250 inches of snow two years ago.
Read the full article here.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>House ready to debate natural gas drilling; ban would close off Marcellus Shale in western Md.
>THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: March 21, 2011 – 12:11 am
Last Updated: March 21, 2011 – 12:11 am
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Maryland House of Delegates is set to vote this week on an effort to restrict drilling for natural gas in western Maryland.
Democratic Delegate Heather Mizeur of Montgomery County is pushing a bill to severely limit when the state can issue drilling permits.
If the House approves it Tuesday, the bill would still need the approval of the Senate and Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Oil and gas companies are seeking permission from many East Coast governments to access the multi-state Marcellus Shale. The formation holds large supplies of natural gas, but can only be accessed with hydraulic fracturing, a process environmentalists oppose.
A House committee last week rejected an effort by Republican Delegate Wendell Beitzel of Garrett County to require the Maryland Department of Environment to issue drilling permits.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Governor ‘pulled no punches’ in meeting with commissioners
>Marcellus shale focus of much discussion
Matthew Bieniek
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Mon Mar 21, 2011, 07:55 AM EDT
CUMBERLAND — Allegany County commissioners said they had a productive meeting with Gov. Martin O’Malley and his staff last week, after the governor surprised them by showing up at what they thought was a meeting with several of his staff members.
Among other things, commissioners were pleasantly surprised when O’Malley indicated interest in the possibility of developing Marcellus shale in Garrett and Allegany counties through the use of a carbon dioxide gas process, rather than the more commonly used hydraulic fracturing.
“The governor pulled no punches with us in that meeting,” said Commission President Michael McKay.
McKay credited Commissioner Creade Brodie Jr. with setting up the meeting with O’Malley’s staff in order to discuss Marcellus shale, among other matters. O’Malley arrived during the Sunday evening meeting with Allegany and Garrett County officials at Will O’ the Wisp near Oakland.
The governor told commissioners that as a former mayor, he understood the impact state cuts were having on local governments. The largest part of their discussion though, centered on Marcellus shale, said commissioners.
The commissioners said they conveyed what they believed to be the importance of Marcellus shale development and their willingness to look at various options to develop natural gas while protecting the environment. O’Malley seemed particularly interested in using carbon dioxide gas for pushing the gas out of the shale. The gas method is used daily in Canada, said Commissioner Bill Valentine.
O’Malley has been very cautious about drilling for natural gas in Marcellus shale, asking for further study before large scale drilling commences. O’Malley’s staff last week denied seeking a moratorium on gas exploration.
Valentine said a local company captures carbon dioxide gas from one of its operations and conceivably, that gas could be used to assist the so-called fracking process to push natural gas out from Marcellus shale. It’s believed using carbon dioxide would be more environmentally friendly than the so-called hydrofracking process, which involves using water and chemicals to open cracks in the shale sufficient to allow the gas to escape into pipes and be brought to the surface. Because it opens the seams more gently than hydrofracking, the industry refers to the use of carbon dioxide gas in the process as “massaging,” Valentine said.
McKay said the governor was “definitely interested” in looking at using carbon dioxide gas as an environmentally friendly way to conduct Marcellus shale exploration for natural gas.
If Allegany County used this process in a test well, it could set the standard for Maryland, Valentine said. “They (the governor’s staff) seemed interested in that process,” said Valentine.
The current stalemate in Marcellus shale exploration isn’t good for Maryland, Brodie said. Competing bills in the General Assembly are supported by environmentalists and the industry.
“It’s like working at the … fountain and I can’t take a drink,” he said. Brodie said the governor and his staff went above and beyond to accommodate the commissioners.
The Maryland Department of the Environment is already using existing regulations for the protection of air, water and land and applying them to Marcellus-related permits, Delegate Wendell Beitzel has said.
Marcellus shale formations throughout the Eastern United States are believed to harbor large untapped natural gas resources. The shale is a sedimentary rock formation that extends underground through about 95,000 square miles in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. The total value of the natural gas in Allegany County’s Marcellus shale could be close to $15.72 billion, with the average well earning $65,000 to $524,000 yearly, University of Maryland Extension staff have said.
“There is a little bit of sunshine peeking through the clouds,” McKay said.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Home sales tumble, prices are near 9-year low
>By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON | Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:56pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of previously owned U.S. homes plunged in February and prices hit their lowest level in nearly nine years, indicating a housing market recovery was still a long way off.
The National Association of Realtors said on Monday sales fell 9.6 percent month over month to an annual rate of 4.88 million units, snapping three straight months of gains. The percentage decline was the largest since July.
The weak sales were the latest evidence of the malaise in the housing sector and confirmed it would remain outside the strengthening and broadening economic recovery.
“The housing market is still very depressed and a major drag on the economy, especially household net worth,” said Chris Christopher, a senior economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Economists had expected a decline of only 4 percent to a 5.15 million-unit pace. The actual drop was greater than even the most pessimistic forecast in a Reuters survey of 53 economists.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Commissioners Hear Staff Reports; Roads Dept. To Begin Spring Cleanup
>Mar. 17, 2011
The Garrett County commissioners held their first quarterly staff meeting of the year last Tuesday morning, hearing reports from 14 county department and agency heads. Topics discussed included Roads Department budget issues, Community Action funding problems, the new Dove Center, and Garrett College expansion projects.
Roads Department
General roads superintendent Jay Moyer reported that the Roads Department was winding down winter operations and was beginning its spring cleanup of tons of antiskid material.
“This is a drawn-out process, and, hopefully, we won’t receive too many more snow events that require antiskid to be put down,” Moyer said.
He noted that sweepers purchased a couple years ago enable his department to recycle much of the material for reuse.
“Anything that we can pick up that doesn’t contain leaves, sticks, or a lot of dirt, we recycle,” Moyer said. “We don’t throw away any more than we absolutely have to.”
As of March 6, he said, the county has received 145 inches of snow, according to the State Highway Administration. Last winter it received a total of 264 inches.
Moyer noted that most of this year’s snow/ice events have occurred on weekends, resulting in much overtime for crews.
“As of today (March 8), we have used 11,311.5 man hours of overtime, and that is roughly half of what we had last year,” he said.
Moyer added his department has spent 75 percent of its budget, even though it is 67 percent through the budget year.
“That occurs annually because of the fact that the vast majority of the budget is for winter operations,” he said about the inconsistency.
Because of overtime, the cost of antiskid, and other factors, his budget is $95,000 in the red. Moyer noted, however, that amendments can be made to level out the budget.
“I’m hearing good things about how the roads are this year,” Commissioner Bob Gatto told Moyer.
Community Action
President Duane Yoder reported that Community Action recently weatherized more than 300 Garrett County homes. He noted that local home improvement contractors were utilized and funding for the work came from the federal stimulus program.
Yoder reported that his agency had also recently received $1 million from the federal government to install renewable energy systems in the form of wind, geothermal, and solar power to local homes. That project will begin this spring.
Though Community Action received much federal funding for projects in recent years, it could be facing a large cut in Community Services Block Grants (CSBG). President Barack Obama noted in his state-of-the-union address that he wants to cut the grants to help reduce the federal budget deficit in fiscal year 2012.
“The only program that he mentioned in that whole speech that he was going to cut was Community Action,” Yoder said. “It’s interesting because the Community Action program, as he defined it, really has very little impact on the deficit, the reduction.”
Nonetheless, Obama wants to reduce Community Action Partnership block grants nationwide from $700 million to $350 million.
“It has some pretty serious consequences,” Yoder said about the proposal, noting that the CSBG Program has provided core funding for community services for several years.
The local agency receives about $250,000 from the program each year.
“That’s the flexible money that we use to subsidize programs that we support and build,” Yoder said.
He said if that funding were to disappear the local Community Action would still able manage its assets and its housing developments because of long-term commitments from private investors, but the loss would probably change its involvement in communities and new projects.
Yoder said he did not know yet how Obama’s proposal would “play out.” He noted, however, that the minute Obama made his announcement, House of Representatives legislators made plans to “zero out” CSBG.
“We’re going to make an effort to try to convince Congress and the president that we should at least try to preserve the Community Services Block Grant,” Yoder said. “We’ll probably be asking for letters of support from the community partners that we have here in Garrett County. Part of what we want to do is make the point that Community Action’s role in Garrett County would be hurt a lot if we aren’t allowed to do what we’ve been doing.”
Commission chair Gregan Crawford said the commissioners would be happy to write letters and make calls in support of Community Action.
Dove Center
Executive director Heather Hanline presented Dove Center statistics for January. During that month the shelter served 57 domestic violence clients, 10 rape clients, three homeless women, and three persons in its batterers’ program.
In addition, five adults and one child were sheltered for a total of 106 bed nights, and 58 domestic violence hotline calls were handled.
She reported that construction of her agency’s new facility is about six weeks ahead of schedule.
“The building crew has been great,” she said. “The exterior of the building is almost finished. Wiring and plumbing is almost done. They’ll be drywalling before we know it. So we’re very happy about the progress.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for October.
Hanline noted that the location of the facility, which will include a shelter and counseling/administra-tive offices, will be known to the public.
“In the past, domestic violence shelters have tried to keep their locations confidential, but that philosophy has changed through the years,” she said. “Now it’s sort of seen as the more the public you are, the safer you are, the more people who will be looking out for you.”
She noted, however, the new building will have a very sophisticated security system.
Garrett College
President Richard Mac-Lennan reported that enrollment at Garrett College was still strong.
He also noted that renovations at the Southern Outreach Center have been completed, nearly doubling the college’s space at the facility. Plans are also under way for Phase II of the Career Technology Training Center in Accident, which will add about 5,000 square feet for educational programs.
“And when the Community Aquatic and Recreation Center comes on board, those three additional facilities and some other renovation work we’re going to have done will triple the college’s footprint in terms of physical space,” MacLennan said.
The president said construction of the recreation center has suffered a little bit because of winter weather, but a Sept. 1 opening is still planned.
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If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Snowdrops Of A Different Sort
>
While most folks on the mountaintop sigh at the thought of more snow, they most likely are happy to welcome these particular snowdrops. The cheery little flowers are definite harbingers of spring, and are popping up, at last, across the county. And they are dressed in green, appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day. The temps are warm today, and there is no sign of real snow anywhere in the forecast over the next week. Let the snowdrops — the growing ones — keep coming! Photo by Lisa Rook.
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If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
