Coal Trends’ executive Q&A for this issue is a long-time expert in the sector and 23-year veteran of CORE Natural Resources Dan Connell, who is now serving as senior vice president-Innovation for the producer’s CORE Innovations arm. Read on for more about his start, his take on tech, and what’s ahead for coal, REEs and more.
CT: Hello, Dan. Thanks for sitting with us for this Q&A. Can you please elaborate on how you came into the mining industry?
Connell: I started as an intern with Consol Energy in 2002. I’m a chemical engineer by training and came in through the research and development department. At the time, there was a lot of focus around developing and implementing new environmental control technologies to enable coal to comply with new regulations and be used more sustainably, which was the initial focus of my work. My interactions with power plants led me into technical marketing, and I did a lot of work with customers to develop applications for our coal products in the U.S. and internationally. Since then, I have progressed to roles in business development and strategy, and I have had the opportunity to oversee CONSOL’s coal export terminal in Baltimore, Md., and develop a new metallurgical coal mine and prep plant in West Virginia.
Today, you could say I’m getting back to my roots, as I now lead Core Natural Resources’ Innovations group, where my focus is on building a new business unit around a portfolio of coal-to-products and carbon management technologies that we’re developing.
What brought you to coal specifically, and to these future technologies and ideas?
I started as an intern at CONSOL R&D and never left, so coal and new technologies have been my career focus from the start. I was drawn to coal for its essential role in supporting basic needs and human progress. Back in 2002, coal plants were the largest source of electricity in the U.S., and I was primarily focused on developing technologies to enable it to be used more sustainably and efficiently. Over the past 20 years, the landscape has changed domestically, but globally, coal is still the largest energy source for electricity. Coal enables people who have never had access to electricity to improve their quality of life, and it is key for making things like steel and cement, which are used all around us and are critical for the buildout of housing and transportation infrastructure.
The company has transitioned to become a major exporter of coal, and it has been fulfilling to be a part of this. In my current role, I get to think outside the box and reimagine how coal can be used in a variety of cutting-edge applications, such as high-performance aerospace materials, building products, and battery materials. This is very exciting, especially since the U.S. has more coal reserves than any other country in the world, and I enjoy pushing the bounds to see how coal can be disruptive in meeting the evolving needs of society in surprising ways.
What is your opinion of technology as a whole in the mining industry? Too much too fast, or not fast enough?
In terms of upstream technologies, coal mining is a mature industry, and providing a safe environment for our workforce is of paramount importance. Technology has certainly played a key role in enabling this, and while there continue to be great opportunities to take advantage of things like automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence to reduce worker exposure and improve productivity, these need to be tested and implemented at a measured pace to ensure they are rugged, ready for prime time, and derisked.
I’m primarily focused on the downstream side of things, which is creating new markets and applications for the products that we mine, including coal and coal byproducts. In that space, we need to intensely focus on advancing concepts that have commercial viability (and killing concepts that aren’t commercially viable). Time is money, so in my opinion, once we have a viable concept, we can’t move fast enough.
Please share more about CORE’s Not So Fast initiative, and what it means for coal – as well as what’s ahead for the program.
The premise of CORE’s Not So Fast campaign is that coal remains vitally important to meeting human needs around the world. While coal continues to present many great opportunities that can benefit society, it is also surrounded by disinformation and myths, which is why the campaign began. There needs to be a more reasonable dialogue about using coal in the future because it’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and it continues to be instrumental in fueling human progress.
The Not So Fast campaign was launched a few years ago to dispel those myths among key stakeholders and the general public, specifically targeting audiences who don’t have the benefit of having the facts.
Since launching the campaign, the narrative has changed in part due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the recent executive orders on coal. With these new advances and perception shifts, Not So Fast will be evolving with them. This evolution will continue to address the most pressing topics and opportunities involving coal. At CORE, we’re looking forward to seeing how our partners and communities embrace this next chapter of coal innovation.
How important is it for CORE to become involved, and remain involved, in REEs as well as coal’s future?
As a leading producer of coal, it’s vitally important for us to look at all the ways it can be used to develop new business opportunities and meet market and societal needs. Maintaining a reliable supply for our traditional markets is important, but we believe there is meaningful incremental growth that can be realized from turning new uses for coal and coal byproducts into business opportunities.
The Innovations group at CORE aims to uncover these non-traditional uses of coal and take them to market. Some of the applications we’re developing, like aerospace and battery materials, involve relatively small volumes of coal but large value uplift. Others, like building products or advanced power generation, could grow to support larger volumes of coal. In either case, though, our primary focus isn’t necessarily tons of production. It’s about taking an abundant, domestic resource that we already mine responsibly and efficiently and putting it into new markets and applications where it delivers a strong value proposition.
What impact do you, and maybe also CORE, think these technologies will have on the future of coal?
Coal is going to continue to be a key resource for the world in traditional ways, such as providing cost-effective electricity, serving as a feedstock for infrastructure materials, and even being used in applications like water treatment and fertilizer production, for many years to come. The new technologies that we’re developing can greatly expand and build upon the spectrum of value that coal creates. Moreover, because coal is such an abundant resource in the U.S., we believe these technologies can help bolster U.S. manufacturing and national and energy security as well.
These innovations can create new opportunities for companies like CORE and can provide valuable new ways to solve the more pressing needs of society in the new markets we’re tapping into. I hope it creates renewed excitement and momentum around the industry moving forward.
What is something many do not know about you?
Outside of work, I started playing the drums at two years old. My dad’s family owned a restaurant, and I was immediately hooked when I got to sit in during drum warm-ups for a band there. Drumming has become a lifelong hobby for me, and I actually met my wife through our church band. She plays the piano and sings, so music is definitely a meaningful part of our lives.
Not So Fast is a public awareness campaign sponsored by CORE Natural Resources advocating for a more measured, analytical, and moral approach to our nation’s energy policies. The campaign aims to educate citizens, corporate leadership, and U.S. policymakers about the economic and societal consequences of moving away too quickly from fossil-fuel-based sources of energy, like coal, in favor of intermittent sources like wind and solar power. These unintended consequences underscore the many challenges of a renewable energy future and the need for an orderly and realistic transition over decades to come.