Coal Age Magazine - For more than 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.
Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/465229
(Loveridge) and Monongalia County (Blacksville) — all posted double-digit per- centage increases in production last year. In fact, most of the mines controlled by Murray Energy performed well last year. With 13 faces, West Virginia remains the longwall leader, followed by Pennsylvania (7), Illinois (7) and Alabama (5). Looking at the numbers, the average U.S. longwall mine operating in coal produces 4.4 mil- lion tpy. On average, it has a cutting height of 91.4 in., a panel width (or face length) of 1,228 ft, and a panel length of 12,117 ft. Last year, those numbers were 91 in., 1,188 ft and 11,307 ft, respectively. Seven long- wall faces have face lengths of 1,500 ft or greater. A total of 17 longwalls operate in the Pittsburgh No. 8 seam. The maximum overburden on average reaches 1,145 ft. Except for a few mines in Utah, most are developed with three entry gates. Using a 1,866-hp double-drum, ranging-arm shearer, they take a 40.5-in. cut. The aver- age yield setting on the shield is 1,072 tons. All of the faces except for four are high voltage (4,160 volts). As far as extremes, the deepest longwall mine is the West Ridge mine in Utah, oper- ating at a depth of 3,000 ft. The Powhatan No. 6 mine in Ohio operates the longest face: 1,650 ft. At 22,500 ft, Signal Peak Energy's Bull Mountains mine in Montana has the longest panel. The West Elk mine in Colorado and the SUFCO mine in Utah are operating 2,805-hp shearers. White Oak Begins Production During October 2014, White Oak Resources began longwall production at the White Oak No. 1 mine in Hamilton County, Illinois, culminating a process that began in 2006 when the company was formed. White Oak Resources broke ground in 2011 and mine development in the Herrin No. 6 seam began in July 2013. This year, the company expects to produce approximately 6.5 mil- lion tons. White Oak Resources CEO Jack Richardson said that the longwall commis- sioning process went well. "With the new workforce we have, this has been one of the better startups I have been associated with," Richardson said. Prior to accepting the posi- tion at White Oak Resources nine months ago, he worked for CONSOL Energy for more than 30 years. The White Oak mine is currently cutting coal at its designed capacity. "We have mined about 5,000 ft from the initial panel and at the current pace — all things being market dependent — we should finish that panel by the end of June," Richardson said. "We are averaging 75 ft per day, taking a 42- in. cut from a 1,400-ft face. We ramped up from zero to budget in about two months." It's an exciting time to be part of the White Oak family, Richardson explained. "We are pulling our initial panel at a brand new coal mine with a large reserve base and we have a bright future," he said. "We have 200 mil- lion tons of reserves in our initial mine No. 1 plan and we control about 1.3 billion tons. We are building the foundation for a safe, low-cost coal producer in the Illinois Basin." Farewell to Deer Creek After 41 years, the Deer Creek mine, located near the Huntington power plant in Utah, will cease operations. After attempting to sell it, PacifiCorp announced it would close the mine in mid-2015. The company cited the rapidly escalating pension liabilities for the mine's represented workforce as a large factor in the economic viability of the mine. The Deer Creek mine has an estimated five years or less of remaining reserves. Bowie Resource Partners will provide the coal needed for the Huntington power plant from other mines in Utah. u . s . l o n g w a l l c e n s u s c o n t i n u e d February 2015 www.coalage.com 31 Prod. Prod. % U.S. Longwall Mines 2014 2013 Change CONSOL Energy Bailey 12,324,680 11,321,481 8.9% CONSOL Energy Enlow Fork 10,556,826 10,111,722 4.4% Murray American Energy Marshall County 10,378,940 9,403,070 10.4% Foresight Energy Sugar Camp 9,097,628 6,493,536 40.1% BHP Billiton San Juan South 8,799,554 5,989,380 46.9% Signal Peak Energy Bull Mountains 7,901,784 8,682,884 -9.0% Alpha Natural Resources Cumberland 7,388,082 5,576,502 32.5% Murray American Energy Harrison County 6,703,392 5,700,956 17.6% American Energy Corp. Century Mine 6,684,695 8,039,546 -16.9% Peabody Energy Twentymile 6,659,492 7,235,627 -8.0% Murray American Energy Ohio County 6,584,921 5,619,263 17.2% Murray American Energy Marion County 6,567,666 5,307,709 23.7% Bowie Resource Partners Sufco No. 1 6,539,322 5,960,266 9.7% Foresight Energy Mach Mining 6,482,276 6,694,630 -3.2% Arch Coal West Elk 6,192,656 5,826,798 6.3% AmCoal New Future 5,744,296 5,450,222 5.4% Alliance Resource Partners Tunnel Ridge 5,627,411 3,694,046 52.3% Foresight Energy Deer Run 5,564,836 4,845,308 14.8% AmCoal New Era 5,509,709 4,419,659 24.7% Walter Energy Blue Creek No. 7 5,226,007 5,405,412 -3.3% Ohio Valley Coal Powhatan No. 6 4,696,014 5,550,146 -15.4% Murray American Energy Monongalia County 4,579,784 3,139,164 45.9% Bowie Resource Partners Skyline 4,170,162 4,170,162 0.0% CONSOL Energy Buchanan 4,041,701 4,783,655 -15.5% Alpha Natural Resources Emerald No. 1 3,951,247 3,584,579 10.2% Pacific Minerals Bridger 3,369,731 4,442,616 -24.1% CONSOL Energy Harvey 3,170,608 NA NA Patriot Coal Federal No. 2 2,866,980 3,363,090 -14.8% Arch Coal Leer 2,822,295 569,488 395.6% Cliffs Resources Pinnacle No. 50 2,747,256 2,807,071 -2.1% Patriot Coal American Eagle 2,732,344 2,410,162 13.4% Walter Energy Blue Creek No. 4 2,720,653 2,622,528 3.7% UtahAmerican Energy West Ridge 2,513,571 2,629,495 -4.4% Bowie Resource Partners Bowie No. 2 2,407,598 3,320,696 -27.5% Cliffs Resources Oak Grove 2,331,168 2,269,014 2.7% Energy West Mining Deer Creek 2,089,158 2,810,298 -25.7% Arch Coal Mountaineer II 1,972,772 2,268,863 -13.1% Alliance Resource Partners Mountain View 1,920,877 2,328,708 -17.5% Blue Mountain Energy Deserado 1,882,024 1,861,494 1.1% Drummond Co. Inc. Shoal Creek 1,803,117 1,328,724 35.7% White Oak Resources White Oak No. 1 1,736,928 NA NA Total U.S. Longwall Production 207,060,161 188,037,970 10.1% Table 2—Longwall Coal Production (2013-2014) Source: Mine Safety and Health Administration.