WEST FRANKLIN TWP, Armstrong County — A new, underground limestone mine is being proposed on the Butler-Armstrong county line.

Allegheny Mineral of Kittanning recently applied to the state Department of Environmental Protection to build the mine, which would be the company’s first underground mine.

“We have a lot of preparation work to do in terms of opening the mine,” said Mark Snyder, the company’s corporate secretary.

Parts of the mine will be in Clearfield and Winfield townships in Butler County, but most of it will be across the border in West Franklin Township, Armstrong County.

Snyder said once limestone reserves are 150 feet below the surface, it becomes more economically advantageous to make an underground mine rather than a surface mine.

More than 30 people will be employed at the what will be called the Bison Mine. Snyder said the company likely will move some existing jobs from other sites to the new mine.

If the permitting process goes smoothly, Snyder said the mine will open in 2015 and production will start later that year.

He said the maximum production will be 1 million tons per year. He also said the company will continue surface mining.

Snyder said the market for limestone has been improving. Most of the company’s limestone is used for road aggregate and concrete and some is used for chemical applications.

A meeting to take public comment on the state application will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Worthington-West Franklin Volunteer Fire Department.

Matt Klabnik, a Winfield Township supervisor, said the mine will have no surface impact in the township and the entrance will be in Armstrong County. He said the township has a century of history with limestone mining.

“We lost the Weleski mine a few years ago so hopefully this new mine can replace some of those jobs and that Winfield residents are hired into them,” Klabnik said.

Snyder said the company has five active sites, and a few more in the permitting process. In Butler County, it has quarries near Slippery Rock and Harrisville.

In Butler County, there is one active, underground non-coal mine. Armstrong County has five. John Poister, a DEP spokesman, said these mines are believed to be limestone mines.