Changes

Since 1985, more than 64 million tons of lignite have been extracted from the Dolet Hills Reserves. According to SWEPCO officials, the days of surface-level extraction are coming to an end. Although 43 million tons of recoverable lignite are believed to remain at Dolet Hills, most lie over 100 feet below the surface, according to Dolet Hills Lignite Co. general manager Dennis Meyer. Extra equipment - a hydraulic excavator, 100- to 150-ton dump trucks, bulldozers and a motorgrader - must aid the enormous draglines used to remove material, which Meyer says make extraction costs about five times as much as using the dragline by itself. SWEPCO believes that between 2016 and 2019, mining the Dolet Hills Reserves will become uneconomical.<ref>Bill Hornaday, [http://www.allbusiness.com/energy-utilities/utilities-industry-electric-power/12755109-1.html "Utility to buy lignite mine in Louisiana Power company seeks fuel source for coal-fired plants"] Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 24, 2009</ref>

==Mine Data==