788 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1972 
 
year's production. The new coal operators in the State were Arch Minerals
Corp. and Amax Coal Co., a subsidiary of American Metal Climax, Inc. (Amax).

 Arch Minerals Corp. began shipping coal in March from the 20-foot-thick
coal bed at the Seminoe No. 1 strip mine. During the year, development work
began on the Seminoe No. 2 strip mine, and about 120,000 tons were produced,
according to the State Inspector of Mines. Each mine is expected to eventually
produce about 3 million tons annually. The company's production in 1972 was
sent by unit trains, each hauling about 10,000 tons of coal, to powerplants
of Commonwealth Edison Co. in Hammond, md., and Waukegan, Ill. Arch Mineral
Corp. is a joint venture comprised of Ashland Oil and Chemical Co. and H.
L. Hunt. 
 Amax Coal Co. began production in late 1972 from the Belle Ayr strip mine
in the Gillette field of the Powder River Coal Region. The State Inspector
of Mines reported the company's output at almost 33,000 tons, which was shipped
for testing purposes. The first unit train coal shipments under a 20-year
contract with the Public Service Co. of Colorado to supply a* powerplant
at Pueblo, Cob., are scheduled to start June 1973. Production is expected
to rise from about 1.5 million tons in 1973 to about 2.5 million tons the
following year. Most of the output will be for the powerplant. Amax has about
4,000 acres of land containing coal beds up to 70 feet thick; coal reserves
have been estimated at about 450 million tons. The Belle Ayr mine is the
company's first development on its holdings of coal reserves in the Western
States. Beginning in 1976, three unit train coal shipments, each totaling
11,000 tons, will be made weekly from the mine to a powerplant being built
by Southwestern Electric Power Co. at Cason, Tex. The contract is for deliveries
totaling 42.5 million tons. The 1,483-mile haul from the mine to the powerplant
will probably rank as the longest unit train coal-haul in the nation. 
 During the year, Burlington Northern Inc., built a 17-mile spur line to
the Belle Ayr mine at a cost of $3.5 million. The company also requested
permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to build a 126-mile branch
in the Powder 
River Coal Region. The line, which will cost about $32.5 million, will serve
the coal mines in the area. 
 Kemmerer Coal Co. increased production from its Sorensen mine to 1.8 million
tons largely to meet the needs of the Naughton powerplant of Utah Power &
Light Co., which began operating a third unit in August.1O Kemmerer's output
in 1973 is estimated to reach 2.7 million tons or more. The Sorensen mine
was about 250 feet deep, 3,770 feet wide, and 5,200 feet long. It will eventually
reach a depth of about 1,000 feet. 
 Energy Development Co., a subsidiary of Iowa Public Service Co., began production
in the Hanna Coal Region from a new underground mine, the Vanguard No. 1.
It installed a 36-inch-wide, 3-mile-long conveyor belt to transport coal
above ground from the mine to a new loading tipple at the railhead. The company
also operates strip mines in the area, but it plans to obtain increasingly
larger tonnages by deep mining a coal bed that is 7 to 11 feet thick. The
deep mine accounted for less than half of Energy's annual output, but its
share is expected to rise to about 75% by 1974. According to the State Inspector
of Mines, Energy produced about 329,000 tons in 1972. It plans to produce
1 to 1.2 million tons of coal per year, all from the Vanguard mine. Unit
train shipments to a powerplant in Sioux City, Iowa, began about April. The
trains make the round trip in about 72 hours. 
 The Big Horn Coal Co., Sheridan County, received the Sentinels of Safety
award for the best safety performance under the category of open pit coal
mining. The award, which was cosponsored by the Federal Bureau of Mines and
the American Mining Congress, was for 238,918 man-hours of work in 1971 without
a disabling injury. The company mines a 20- to 44-foot~thick coal bed that
is covered by 50 feet or more of overburden. About 140 acres of the mined
lands have been reclaimed. One of the restored areas has been designated
a State park. According to the State Inspector of Mines, Big Horn Coal Co.
produced about 954,000 tons in 1972. 
 
 10 Riverton Ranger. 18th Annual Wyoming Mining and Industrial Progress Issue.
V. 67, No. 75, June 14, 1973, p. 10—B.