KFx sends its first shipment of cleaner-burning K-Fuel

DENVER, COLORADO - Denver-based KFx Inc. has shipped its first load of K- Fuel, a specially patented coal product designed to burn cleaner and maximize energy content.

Skeptics didn't think it would ever happen.

The company recently shipped about 10,000 tons of the coal to FirstEnergy Corp., an Ohio-based energy company. FirstEnergy will burn the coal in one of its 20 power plants to determine if it wants to sign a long-term contract, said Karli Anderson, KFx director of investor relations.

The KFx process is designed to convert dirty, low-quality coal to clean, energy-rich coal by squeezing and cooking moisture and pollutants out of it at its plant in Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

Mark Sexton, KFx chief executive, told investors in a conference call that the company has consistently proved its critics wrong.

"Detractors over the years have alleged that we never actually would be able to build a commercial plant, that the product was somehow flawed, that we'd never be able to transport the product safely, or at all, and that no bona fide customers existed for K- Fuel," Sexton said.

"On the contrary, today we have got a 750,000-ton-per- year commissioned plant in ongoing operations," he said. "Two additional plants are under development. Our K-Fuel is going to ship to a major facility."