John Baugues, Jr.:
The man behind Bull Mountain

After recognizing the tremendous business opportunity at Bull Mountain, John P. Baugues, Jr. set out in 1995 to acquire the lease on the mine from Meridian Minerals. A few years later, John Baugues raised the necessary capital to purchase the Bull Mountain Mine and proceeded to bring it to the operational stage, commencing limited mining and test shipments to various potential customers.

In 2005, John Baugues opened a new round of financing to bring the project to the next phase. Baugues secured funding from Airlie Opportunity Capital Management, L.P, a hedge fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut. As part of the deal, John Baugues and his partner retained considerable ownership in the project and financing was provided by the hedge fund to advance
development and operations.

Three years later, John Baugues sold the Bull Mountain coal mine project to FirstEnergy, a major United States power production company. FirstEnergy put an additional $300 million into the project, which opened as Signal Peak in 2009. The mine is now nearing full capacity operations, estimated at 15 million tons a year.

In a statement about the Baugues-led project released by FirstEnergy, President and CEO Anthony J. Alexander said: "This is a very attractive investment for our company because the assured supply of Bull Mountain coal will help us maximize the generation capacity of our existing fossil generation plants, with significant environmental advantages compared to standard eastern coal."

Referring to the low sulfur, low ash, and lower mercury content of Bull Mountain coal, Alexander continued: "We expect this supply to help us meet our customers' growing electricity needs in an environmentally sound manner."

Given the success of John Baugues's Bull Mountain Mine, the project is being hailed as a potential turning point for Montana, many predicting it could spark a modern-day coal rush in the Treasure State.