The Vermilion Grove Mine in Vermilion County, Ill., is an underground mining operation based in east central Illinois. The mine sold 1.4 million tons of medium-sulfur steam coal in 2007 to a number of electricity generating and industrial customers in Illinois and Indiana. The Riola Mine Complex consolidated production into the Vermilion Grove Portal in June of 2006.

 

Vermilion Grove's 180 employees mine the Herrin No. 6 seam at an overburden depth of approximately 250 feet. Coal from Vermilion Grove is conveyed to a 600 ton-per-hour preparation plant for crushing and processing before being loaded in rail cars or highway trucks for transportation to customers.

 

Vermilion Grove's 180 employees mine the Herrin No. 6 seam at an overburden depth of approximately 250 feet. Coal from Vermilion Grove is conveyed to a 600 ton-per-hour preparation plant for crushing and processing before being loaded in rail cars or highway trucks for transportation to customers.

 

Vermilion Grove was developed and began production in 2001. The mine operates two continuous miner sections on two production shifts per day, 5.5 days a week, year round. The mine has 19 million tons of recoverable coal reserves.

 

Vermilion Grove 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 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.