CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A state regulatory council is holding hearings this week on whether to approve what would be Wyoming's first major new coal mine in decades.

Lexington, Kentucky-based Ramaco wants to open the Brook Mine north of Sheridan in northern Wyoming.

But the proposed mine on the banks of the Tongue River is contested by a handful of local landowners and another coal company, Big Horn Coal, which operated in the region until the mid-1980s.

The Wyoming Environmental Quality Council has set aside the whole week for the hearing, which began Monday in Sheridan.

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