Black Thunder Mine
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The Black Thunder Coal Mine is a surface coal mine in the U.S. state of Wyoming, located in Campbell County, in the Powder River Basin, which contains one of the largest deposits of coal in the world. Black Thunder is the second largest coal mining operation in the United States, behind only the North Antelope Rochelle Mine, and is one of the largest in the world.[1]
In 2007, the mine extracted 86,196,275 short tons of coal, nearly 20 percent of Wyoming's total coal production, and higher than 23 other individual coal producing states.[1] In early 2009, Rio Tinto reached an agreement to sell its Jacobs Ranch Mine to Arch Coal for $761 million, which will combine the mine with its Black Thunder Mine.[2] In 2010, the Black Thunder Mine dug up an estimated 115 million tons of coal, an increase of 34 million tons over 2009. The increase was a result of merging the Jacobs Ranch Mine - and its average 38 million tons per year - into the Black Thunder's annual production.[3]
Contents
History
The mine was opened in 1977, and run by ARCO Coal until it was acquired in 1998 by Arch Coal.[4] For most of its existence, Black Thunder has been the largest mine in the country (by production), but it was surpassed by the nearby North Antelope Rochelle Mine. North Antelope Rochelle was created after Arch Coal purchased the Rochelle mine next door to their North Antelope Mine and consolidated operations. Arch Coal, Inc. announced on March 9, 2009 that it has agreed to purchase Rio Tinto's Jacobs Ranch mine adjoining Black Thunder, which will result in Black Thunder once again being the largest mine in the country.[5]
Warren Buffet and Bill Gates visit Thunder Mine
In November 2010 Warren Buffet and billionaire Bill Gates, a Berkshire director, visited the Black Thunder Mine in Wyoming. Buffett was quoted later as saying that he found the trip to the Black Thunder Mine “fascinating.” Neither gave interviews during the tour, but some speculated that the trip was an indication that the two were looking to invest in the project.[6] However, in the past Bill Gates has stated that coal and natural gas must be phased out by 2050.[7]
Mine Data
- MSHA ID: 4800977
- Owner: Thunder Basin Coal Company
- Parent company: Arch Coal
- Location: Campbell County, Wyoming
- GPS coordinates: 43.66, -105.3
- Production: 86,196,275 short tons
- Type of coal: Bituminous
- Mine type: Surface
- Equipment: 4 draglines, 11 electric shovels
- Mine Status: Active
- Average No. of Employees: 1,057
Articles and resources
Related SourceWatch articles
- Coal and jobs in the United States
- Coal phase-out
- Headquarters of U.S. coal mining companies
- Global list of coal mining companies and agencies
- Wyoming and coal
- Proposed coal mines
- Existing U.S. Coal Plants
- Coal
To see a listing of coal mines in a particular state, click on the map:
<us_map redirect="Category:Existing coal mines in {state}"></us_map>
References
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 Energy Information Administration - Annual Report. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
- ↑ Brett Foley, "Arch Coal to Buy U.S. Mine From Rio for $761 Million" Bloomberg.com, March 12, 2009
- ↑ Dustin Bleizeffer, "Rebound: 2010 showed modest recovery for coal" K2 Technologies, January 5, 2011.
- ↑ Mining Technology
- ↑ Arch Coal Announces Plans to Acquire Rio Tinto's Jacobs Ranch Operation.
- ↑ "Warren Buffett is Betting Big on Coal" Jim Fink, Investing Daily, January 6, 2011.
- ↑ "Bill Gates: ban coal and invest in clean energy technology" Mongabay.com, February 12, 2010.
External links
- "Major U.S. Coal Mines," Energy Information Administration
- Arch Coal - Black Thunder Mine
Wikipedia also has an article on Black Thunder Mine. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.
