Wyodak is a surface coal mine set up as a mine-mouth operation. That means that the coal produced at the mine is shipped directly to the adjacent power plant customers.
During surface mining operations, the topsoil is stripped and stored. The overburden is removed (earth and rock covering the coal) with heavy equipment. Removal of the overburden typically requires drilling and blasting. Once the coal is exposed, the Company drill, fracture systematically remove it, using front-end loaders and conveyors to transport the coal to the mine-mouth generating facilities.
After the topsoil’s removed, overburden (the soil and rock above the coal seam) is blasted and removed. At Wyodak, there is approximately 200 feet of overburden on top of the coal. Four overburden benches, each about 50 feet tall, are advanced to uncover the coal resource. Electric shovels remove the overburden from these benches, and large end-dump haul trucks carry the overburden to the spoils where it’s used to build post-mining topography.
After removing the overburden, the coal seam blast to fragment the coal for safe and efficient digging. It uses front-end loaders to mine the coal.
Wyodak’s coal seam is approximately 80 feet thick, and average daily production is between 11,000 and 12,000 tons.
Disturbed areas were reclaimed as part of normal mining activities by back-filling the pit with overburden removed during the mining process. Once the overburden ........