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

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."