ABOUT US | Beaver Coal Company

About Us

Founded in 1889, Beaver Coal Company, Limited dba Beaver Property Company (BPC) owns approximately 50,000 acres of property within a 10-mile radius of Beckley in Raleigh County, WV. The property is accessible by two major interstate highways (I-77 & I-64) and two railroads (NW & CSX) and is available for commercial, industrial and residential development.

With an average elevation of 2,200 feet, Beaver's property is situated on a natural plateau with extraordinary views of timberland, rivers, gorges and meadows. Raleigh County is known for its excellent outdoor recreational activities: whitewater rafting, ski resorts, golf courses, ATV riding, and challenging hiking and biking trails.

The company generates passive income from leasing activities on its surface and subsurface holdings to third-party operating companies, businesses, and residential occupants. BPC does not take on operating risk, which is best borne by high-quality tenants under lease

Coal Operations

BPC owns approximately 41,000 acres of coal (subsurface) property. The subsurface property is located in the low-volatile, metallurgical coal fields of Raleigh County, WV. BPC leases the mining rights to large, nationally recognized, coal producers which bear the operating risk and pay BPC a royalty based on their production.

Throughout the years, BPC has worked closely with the Department of Environmental Protection's Abandoned Mine Lands Program. This cooperative effort resulted in the reclamation of numerous coal refuse areas left from pre-1969 mining operations. Some of the reclaimed areas included mine refuse with as much as a 30 percent coal content. The opportunity to recover the coal from these "coal rich" mine refuse sites remains open to interested parties. Contact us for more information.

Timber

In 1993, BPC began a sustained yield timber harvest program to assist the company in maintaining a healthy forest cover and to maximize the yield of forest products. This program ensures that the volume of timber harvested from the property each year remains less than or equal to the volume that is grown on the property. Each year, three to four million board feet of timber is harvested from the property. Approximately one-half of the harvest is performed by timber companies that bid for specific harvest units. The remaining half of the annual harvest is performed by an operator working under a longer-term timber purchase contract from BPC. Contact us for more information.

Natural Gas

Since the late 1920s, natural gas has been produced from land owned by BPC by third-party operators. The first natural gas lease was made with Godfrey Cabot in 1929. Since then, at least eight other natural gas producers have operated on BPC property, including United Fuel Gas Co., Appalachian Exploration & Development, Peake Oil & Gas, North Coast Energy, Columbia Natural Resources, American Gas Utilities, Co., EOG Resources, Milton Oil & Gas, and CDX, Inc. There are currently six natural gas production companies that have gas rights leased from BPC. Until 2001, gas production from the property was limited to production from gas wells drilled vertically into conventional sandstone and limestone reservoirs. In 2001, EOG Resources produced pipeline quality methane gas from a horizontally drilled well in the Pocahontas No. 3 Coal Seam on BPC property. More recently, CDX, Inc. began a horizontal coal bed methane well drilling program on BPC property. This program has significant potential for future production. Contact us for more information.

Surface Leasing

Much of BPC’s property is serviced by all public utilities and is therefore ready for commercial, industrial, and residential development. In addition, the properties have excellent accessibility via highway and rail systems. Given these attributes, the company is excited to offer a variety of parcels to operators and developers which are interested in establishing an enterprise in Raleigh County. Currently, there are approximately 400 families and 90 businesses leasing property from BPC. Contact us for more information.

History

In 1889, Anthony Drexel, Logan Bullitt and J.P. Morgan, three prominent men from Philadelphia, PA, and New York, NY, sent their land agent, Azel Ford, to Raleigh County, WV, to purchase approximately 50,000 acres of property in and around the Beckley area. The acquired property was later placed under the administration of BPC to manage the affairs of the company.

During the first 100 years, BPC’s primary source of income was generated through the leasing of its coal reserves to coal mining companies, and the sale of its timber. BPC has never mined or sold a single pound of coal, nor has it cut any timber from its property. Timbering and mining activities on BPC's property have always been carried out through lease agreements with separate and distinct operating companies.

As time passed, BPC began to lease portions of its surface property. Starting with farming or other individual purposes, the company eventually expanded into leasing for commercial and recreational purposes.

Today, BPC is a limited partnership whose partnership certificates are traded on the OTC market under the symbol BVERS. Two of the six current directors are descendants of the original founders of the company. Recognizing that coal and natural gas are depleting resources, BPC has in recent years worked with operating companies to generate an increasing share of rental income from residential homesites, mini-storage facilities, tourist cabin rentals and other commercial development.

Community

As part of the Raleigh County/Beckley area since 1889, BPC and its predecessors have been able to serve and benefit the community through a variety of charitable donations, land grants, and contributions to community projects. Furthermore, all employees of BPC actively participate in at least one community service organization.