Viper Coal Mine

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Viper Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Illinois, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Viper Coal Mine Illinois, United States 39.947187, -89.497976 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Operating

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.
Capacity (Mtpa) Production (Mtpa) Year of Production Mine Type Mining Method Mine Size (km2) Mine Depth (m) Workforce Size
0.6159784113[1] 2023[1] Underground 373* 112[1]

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt) Year of Total Reserves Recorded Total Resources (Mt) Coalfield Coal Type Coal Grade Primary Consumer/ Destination
39.2 Illinois Basin Bituminous

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Black Mountain Resources Black Mountain Resources [100%] USA

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

Viper Mine is an underground coal mine in Williamsville, Illinois, owned by International Coal Group. The mine is a room-and-pillar operation, utilizing continuous miners and battery haulers. The coal is transported to utility and industrial customers located in North Central Illinois, with shipments to electric utilities accounting for about 58% of coal sales. Approximately 61% of the coal reserves are leased.[2]

City Water, Light and Power (CWLP) - the largest municipally owned utility in Illinois - is a major customer, with Viper Mine supplying 1.4 million tons of coal to the utility in 2010. CWLP's contract with ICG runs through 2020 at a cost of about $38 per ton. The mine has produced coal for CWLP since it began operations as Turris Coal Co. (owned at the time by Shell Mining Co.) in 1982, and ICG has owned the Viper mine since its purchase in 2004.[3]

On May 17, 2011, it was reported that the the Viper Mine would become part of Arch Coal of St. Louis through Arch's $3.4 billion acquisition of ICG operations in West Virginia and Illinois by the end of June 2011. In Illinois, Arch also has a 49 percent stake in the Night Hawk Mine and has plans for the Lost Prairie Mine, both in southern Illinois.[3]

  • Owner: International Coal Group
  • Parent company: International Coal Group
  • Location: Williamsville, Illinois
  • GPS coordinates: 39.947187, -89.497976
  • Production: 2.1 million tons (2007)
  • Type of coal: For power generation, Steam and Stoker.
  • Mine type: Underground
  • Mineable Reserves: 43.2 million tonnes (Proven and Probable, 2018) [4]
  • Equipment: Room-and-pillar
  • Number of employees: 254

External Links

EIA Major U.S. Coal Mines: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/table9.html

The Illinois Coal Industry Statutory Mandated Report 2008 an industry report containing information on Illinois mines.


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20240213175031/https://www.msha.gov/data-and-reports/statistics/mine-employment-and-coal-production. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Coal Operations: Viper Mine" International Coal Group Website, November 2009
  3. 3.0 3.1 Tim Landis, "Arch Coal of St. Louis to acquire Viper Mine" State Journal Register, May 17, 2011.
  4. Mining Data Solutions, "Arch Mine", Mining Data Online website, Accessed June 2021

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References