The Francisco Mine complex in Gibson County near Francisco, Ind., is comprised of a surface mining operation and an underground mining operation. Francisco surface mine opened in 1996 and in 2007 shipped 2.1 million tons of coal. It has 6 million tons of recoverable coal reserves.

 

The Francisco underground mine opened in 2003 and shipped .9 million tons of coal in 2007. Francisco Mine's only customer is Public Service of Indiana (PSI). The mine has 22 million tons of recoverable coal reserves.

 

Francisco's 150 surface mine employees operate three truck and shovel fleets on two 10-hour shifts per day, seven days a week year round. The Francisco underground operation's 70 employees operate a continuous miner section on two nine-hour shifts five-and-a-half days a week year round.

 

Coal from the Francisco Mine is processed at a 600 ton-per-hour heavy media preparation plant and loaded on trains for transporting to PSI.

 

Employees of Francisco Underground were honored with the Peabody President's Award for being the company's safest underground mine in 2006.

 

Francisco Mine is operated by Black Beauty Coal, the largest coal producer in the Illinois Basin. Black Beauty is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector coal company, with 2007 sales of 238 million tons of coal and $4.6 billion in revenues. Its coal products fuel approximately 10 percent of all U.S. Electricity and more than 2 percent of worldwide electricity. The company is serving global coal demand from electricity generators and steelmakers, and is growing to serve new global customers and emerging Btu Conversion markets.