Spring Creek Mine

{{#Badges: CoalSwarm}}Spring Creek Mine is a surface coal mine in Montana, United States.

Location

The map below shows the location of the mine, near Decker, in Big Horn county, Montana.

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Background

The mine was previously owned by Rio Tinto Energy America. In 2008 Rio Tinto spun the most significant of its Powder River Basin coal assets — including the Spring Creek Mine — off into Cloud Peak Energy, a company in which Rio Tinto has a 48.3% stake.

In March 2019, a U.S. federal magistrate ruled that Cloud Energy's plans to expand the mine (adding 120 million tons of reserves) were insufficient, because they failed to adequately consider the potential climate change impacts of expanding the mine.

Cloud Peak Energy to ship more Powder River Basin coal to Asia

In June, 2011 Cloud Peak Energy signed a 10-year deal to ship basin coal to Asia from a port on Canada’s Pacific Coast. Cloud Peak Energy Inc. signed the deal with Westshore Terminals to ship coal through its Westshore Terminal in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company shipped 3.3 million tons of coal through the terminal to Asian customers in 2010. Cloud Energy operates the Antelope Coal Mine, Cordero Rojo Mine, Spring Creek Mine, Decker Mine, and Jacobs Ranch Mine in the Powder River Basin.

Mine Data

• Owner: Spring Creek Coal Company
• Parent company: Cloud Peak Energy
• Location: Decker, Big Horn county, Montana, United States
• GPS coordinates: 45.0497 N, 106.7731W
• Production: 15,712,091 short tons
• Type of coal:
• Mine type: Surface
• Equipment:
• Number of employees: 185

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Coal
• Coal and jobs in the United States
• Coal phase-out
• Global list of coal mining companies and agencies
• Headquarters of U.S. coal mining companies
• Montana and coal
• Proposed coal mines
• Rio Tinto's coal interests
• U.S. coal politics

To see a listing of coal mines in a particular state, click on the map:

External links

• "Major U.S. Coal Mines," Energy Information Administration
• "Spring Creek Mine Factsheet" Rio Tinto Energy America
• "Air Quality Permit" Montana DEQ