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Bowie Resources Limited
Bowie No. 2 Mine Expansion Project
Paonia, Colorado
 The Bowie No. 2 Mine near Paonia, Colorado had been stockpiling coal at the upper bench near the mine portal, and loading trucks with front-end-loaders for hauling down the mountain to a train loadout facility. Installation of new longwall mining equipment increased production beyond the storage capacity of the
upper bench. Continuing to use trucks would be expensive and environmentally unfriendly. The Roberts & Schaefer Company was selected for project management, preliminary engineering, detailed engineering, procurement, construction management, and commissioning of an overland conveyor solution.
 The Mine Expansion Project incorporated two downhill regenerative conveyors to transfer coal off the upper bench to a new 350,000 ton pushed stockpile at the foot of the mountain. Both conveyors are 48 inches wide, designed for 1,500 tons per hour capacity with a belt speed of 550 feet per minute. The Transfer conveyor
is 950 feet long with 140 feet elevation drop, powered by a 200 Hp motor with Variable Frequency Drive. The Transfer conveyor transfers coal from the upper bench to a new Downhill conveyor located about a quarter of the distance down the hill. The Downhill conveyor is 2,750 feet long with 1 620 feet elevation drop, powered by two 400 Hp motors with Variable Frequency Drives.
The new stockpile at the foot of the mountain comprises two stacking tubes and a 16 feet diameter multi-plate reclaim tunnel. The tunnel is designed with four hopper openings for future installation of a 6,000 ton per hour reclaim conveyor, which will transfer coal directly to a new rail loadout facility; thus eliminating truck haulage on public roads. The last stacking tube is constructed above the reclaim tunnel for direct feed to the tunnel. The Downhill conveyor discharges
coal at either of two stacking tubes in the new stockpile area. The stockpile is maintained by dozers
Both conveyors are automatically controlled by a PLC with the main processor at the loadout area and remote racks at other key locations. The main processor and remote racks are connected by a fiber optic highway. The conveyors are regenerative, creating electrical power from the gravitational energy of the conveyors and placing the power back on the grid.
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