Rawhide Mine

The Rawhide Mine is a coal mine located 10 miles (16.1 km) north of Gillette, Wyoming in the United States in the coal-rich Powder River Basin. The mine is an open pit mine that utilizes a combination of cast blast/dozer push and truck/shovel mining methods to strip an average of 165 feet (50.3m) of overburden off of approximately 105 (32.0m) feet of coal. Rawhide produces a low-sulfur, sub-bituminous coal from the Roland and Smith seams. This coal is used for domestic energy generation and shipped to customers via railroad. The mine is currently owned and operated by Peabody Energy.[1]

Rawhide
Coal mines north and east of Gillette–Campbell County Airport, including the Rawhide Mine
Location
Rawhide Mine
Location in Wyoming
StateWyoming
CountryUnited States
Coordinates44°25′08″N 105°30′45″W
Production
ProductsCoal
History
Opened1977 (1977)
Owner
CompanyPeabody Energy
Websitewww.peabodyenergy.com
Year of acquisition1994

As of 2009, Rawhide had reserves of 388,000,000 tons (352,000,000 tonnes) of sub-bituminous coal and a maximum permitted production capacity of 24,000,000 tons per year. Typical annual production has been in 12–18 mm ton range for the last several years though. In 2010, the mine produced just over 11,225,000 million short tons of coal, making it the 13th-largest producer of coal in the United States.[2]

The average quality of the coal shipped from Rawhide is 8,300 BTU/lb, 0.37% sulfur, 5.40% ash, and 1.60% sodium (of the ash).

Train loading at the Rawhide mine is done in two passes. The first pass flood-loads the majority of the coal into the rail car while it is under the mine's silos, while a second pass tops off the car to its final target weight ± 250 lbs. Silo capacity at the mine's rail loop, which can accommodate up to three unit trains, is 78,000 tons.[3] The mine also has an intermediate coal silo that has an 18,000-ton capacity for 10"- run of mine coal.[1]

History

The Rawhide Mine shipped its first train of coal in 1977 after beginning pre-production work in 1974. Rawhide mine was previously owned by the Carter Mining Company, a subsidiary of Exxon, before being purchased by Peabody Energy on November 1, 1994. Peabody Energy runs the Rawhide Mine via its wholly owned subsidiary, the Caballo Coal Company.

Production at the mine has been continuous since its opening except for an 18-month period beginning in late 1999, when the mine was idled due to market conditions. Mining operations resumed at Rawhide in 2001 with coal shipments resuming in 2002.[1]

In 1982, Rawhide mine was the recipient of the Sentinels of Safety Award from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), in the large surface coal mine category.[4] The Sentinels of Safety is awarded annually by MSHA to the safest mine in each of several categories.

Approximately 30% of Rawhide Mine's production was sent to Monticello Steam Electric Station in Texas before closing in January 2018.[5][6] Another customer from Texas, Big Brown Power Plant, closed the following month.[7]

Production

[8][9]

YearCoal productionEmployees
20189,504,750110
201710,346,144101
20168,079,13985
201515,167,996193
201415,473,474212
201314,246,329203
201214,721,376212
201115,011,017223
201011,229,907180
200915,842,274227
200818,409,307219
200717,155,361234
200617,092,993170
200512,430,351131
20046,869,98969
20033,632,94032
20023,484,61923
200108
200002
1999807,89219
19985,390,40063
199710,705,680157
199615,068,358166
199515,355,000166
199412,858,787176
19939,863,923181
19928,629,624192
199111,767,143192
199011,438,719177
198910,628,737173
198810,810,785167
198710,672,913174
198612,403,975180
198512,236,695182
19849,351,952204
19838,614,552225
1982**
1981**
1980**
1979**
1978**
1977**

*No published, public data was found on the internet for these production periods.

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References
  1. "Rawhide Mine". Peabody Energy website. Peabody Energy. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  2. "Coal-Production-Historical Coal Production by Mine Type - 2010". Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  3. "Mine Guide" (PDF). BNSF website. BNSF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  4. "Drilling and Blasting in Thick Seam Coal Mines in the Powder River Basin" (PDF). International Society for Explosives Engineer. 1984. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  5. "How Texas Coal Plant Closure Affects Peabody Energy". 24/7 Wall St. MarketWatch. October 13, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  6. Osborne, James (October 6, 2017). "Vistra closing mega coal plant in East Texas". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  7. Richards, Heather (February 12, 2018). "Wyoming coal customer closes in Texas as planned". Casper Star-Tribune Online. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  8. "Rawhide Data". Wyoming Mining Association. May 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  9. "MSHA Mine ID 4800993". Retrieved 2019-04-02.
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