Rawhide Mine sold 17.1 million tons of compliance coal in 2007 and employs approximately 230 people. Remaining assigned reserves total approximately 407 million tons. Rawhide has a permitted capacity of 24 million tons per year, with quality of about 8,300 Btu and 0.37 percent sulfur.

 

The mine is located in Campbell County, Wyo., ten miles north of Gillette on Highway 59, and was acquired from Exxon Coal and Minerals Company on November 1, 1994. Construction of the mine began in September 1974, with initial production beginning in August 1977. After being idled for 18 months due to market conditions, Rawhide resumed operations in 2001 giving Peabody the flexibility to better serve its customers.

 

Rawhide is a cast-truck-and-shovel/dozer-push operation. Approximately 150 feet of overburden is removed with dozers and loaders. Overburden haulage is accomplished with end-dump haul trucks. Coal is loaded with a shovel and front-end loaders from two seams, the 80-foot-thick Smith and 30-foot-thick Roland seams. Coal is hauled to a near-pit crusher and a conveyor transports the coal to one of two 12,000-ton surge silos. Coal is then removed from this silo, crushed to final size, sampled, and transported by conveyor to four 11,000 ton loadout silos.

 

A loop track is in place connecting with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. The loading facilities, which are located over the loop track, are capable of handling 150 cars per unit train. Rawhide Mine utilizes a flood loadout system combined with a precision top-off loading system capable of loading each railcar to within 250 pounds of its maximum specified weight. The system is tested and certified semiannually. Typical loading times are well within the normal four-hour limit, averaging approximately three hours. Coal sampling is performed at the mine in accordance with ASTM Standards and analyzed by an independent laboratory located in Gillette.

 

Rawhide Mine is part of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector coal company, with 2007 sales of 238 million tons 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.