Wyodak Mine
The Wyodak Mine, as seen from Interstate 90, July 2018
Location
Wyodak is located in Wyoming
Wyodak
Wyodak
StateWyoming
CountryUnited States
Coordinates44°18′25″N 105°23′13″W / 44.30694°N 105.38694°W / 44.30694; -105.38694
Production
ProductsCoal
History
Opened1923 (1923)
Owner
CompanyBlack Hills Corporation
Websitewww.blackhillscorp.com
Year of acquisition1956

The Wyodak mine is a coal mine in Wyodak, Wyoming, United States, located about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Gillette in the coal-rich Powder River Basin.

Description

A postcard of the Wyodak Mine, circa 1930-1945

The operation is an open pit mine that utilizes a truck and shovel mining method to produce a low-sulfur, sub-bituminous coal that is used for domestic energy generation. The mine ships its coal to the adjacent Wyodak power plant and to other customers via railroad. The mine is operated by Wyodak Resources Development, a subsidiary of the Black Hills Corporation.[1]

As of 2009, Wyodak had reserves of 294mm tons of sub-bituminous coal and a maximum permitted production capacity of 10mm tons per year. Typical annual production has been in the 5-6mm ton range for the last several years though. In 2008, the mine produced just over 6.0 million short tons of coal, making it the 30th-largest producer of coal in the United States.[2]

The average quality of the coal produced from the Wyodak Mine is 8,050 BTU/lb, 0.40% Sulfur, 6.0% Ash, and 0.94% Sodium (of the ash). Train loading operations at the mine are done by a flood loading system that is coupled to a "weigh-in-motion" track scale system. Silo capacity at the mine's rail loop, which can accommodate a single unit train, is 24,000 tons.[3]

History

Mining operations at the mine site first began around 1918 with the establishment of the Peerless Mine. The Peerless Mine was an underground room and pillar operation that mined coal near the outcrop of the Wyodak seam. Though the operation went out of business in 1925, it left behind underground workings which were uncovered and mined through by the Wyodak mine in the 1950s.[1][4]

The modern Wyodak mine was established in 1923 to provide coal for power plants that supplied energy to the Homestake Mine (South Dakota) for its mining and milling operations. In 1956, the Black Hills Corporation purchased the mine from the Homestake Mining Company by exercising an option that was negotiated during its purchase of the Wyodak power plant in 1954.[5]

It is believed that Wyodak is the oldest, continually operated surface coal mine in the United States.[6]

Production

[7][8]

YearCoal ProductionEmployees
20184,085,04466
20174,182,80063
20163,717,41467
20154,140,38668
20144,317,02366
20134,285,44565
20124,245,98180
20115,691,756120
20105,930,614116
20096,016,063121
20086,017,311116
20075,049,232109
20064,698,47366
20054,701,62568
20044,780,10459
20034,812,34656
20024,052,37455
20013,518,16253
20003,050,32543
19993,179,58543
19983,280,15743
19973,250,96946
19963,198,54447
19952,984,00051
19942,795,94252
19933,027,35657
19922,257,55158
19912,741,80957
19902,907,63963
19892,349,13570
19882,709,49471
19872,976,39876
19862,584,85677
19852,898,48272
19842,443,83169

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Wyodak Resources". Wyodak Resources. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  2. ↑ "Major U.S. Coal Mines, 2008". Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy. September 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  3. ↑ "Mine Guide" (PDF). BNSF website. BNSF. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  4. ↑ "Gillette History". Campbell County Government. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  5. ↑ "Decade of the 50s". Black Hills Corporation. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  6. ↑ "Case Study-Wyodak Resources". Komatsu North America. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  7. ↑ "Wyodak Data". Wyoming Mining Association. May 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  8. ↑ "MSHA Mine ID 4800083". Retrieved 2019-04-03.
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