Somerville Central Mine is a surface operation in Gibson County near Somerville, Ind. In 2007, approximately 3.6 million tons of coal were shipped to the mine's customers Indianapolis Power & Light and Hoosier Energy.

 

Opened in 2000, the mine has steadily increased coal production and employment. Its nearly 200 employees operate the mine seven days a week year round, using a dragline and truck and shovel fleets to remove overburden and transport coal to the preparation plant, where it is washed and loaded into rail cars for shipment to customers. It has 4 million tons of recoverable coal reserves.

 

Somerville Central 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.