With the November 8 announcement that Rio Tinto is interested in selling its US coal assets, questions are swirling about who may be the potential suitor or suitors for the producer's significant coal reserves in the Powder River Basin. According to industry analysts, Rio Tinto's PRB assets may not find much interest from the two other major PRB incumbents - Arch Coal and Peabody Energy - because of potential concerns about lack of competition in the basin. The Rio Tinto-Arch-Peabody trio has access to the vast majority of reserves in the basin, but other companies such as Foundation Coal operate mines there, too. Consol Energy has been named as a possible contender for the US operations.
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