Mining Intelligence and News
United States

North Antelope Rochelle (NARM) Mine

Click for more information

Categories

Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Coal (thermal)
Mining Method
  • Dragline
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotNorth Antelope Rochelle Mine (NARM) is the world’s largest coal mine with the cleanest coal in the United States.

On June 23, 2023, the North Antelope Rochelle Mine sustained damage from a tornado which led to a temporary suspension of operations. The mine resumed operations on June 25, 2023. The Peabody anticipates that incremental repair costs will continue to be recorded in early 2024.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Peabody Energy, Inc. 100 % Indirect
Peabody Powder River Mining, LLC (operator) 100 % Direct
North Antelope Rochelle (NARM) coal mine is owned and operated by Peabody Powder River Mining, LLC a subsidiary of Peabody Energy Corp.

Contractors

Lock

- subscription is required.

Deposit type

  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The Wasatch Formation and local Quaternary age deposits comprise all of the overburden lithologies at the mine site. The Wasatch consists of alternating, lenticular deposits of sandstones, siltstones, claystones, coal, and carbonaceous shales. Coal has been mined exclusively from the Wyodak-Anderson (WA) Seam. The remaining coal is 50-87 ft thick and 180 to 460 ft deep within the leased area. The WA seam is in the uppermost section of the Paleocene Fort Union Formation. The coal is thickest on the northwest side of the lease. There are two main geologic features at NARM. The first is a monocline that exists in a northwest to southeast trend over the middle portion of the mine. The lower 12-14 feet of the WA seam splits off as a hanger seam (Lower Wyodak-Anderson, or LWA) and has a steeply dipping gradient after it splits. The LWA seam is not mined because of poor quality and an increasingly high strip ratio. The mineable WA coal thickness averages 80 feet in the west and 60 feet east of the monocline. The second geologic feature is a ribbon split occuring in the southwest portion of the lease and trending northwest to the southeast. The WA splits into two nearly equally thick (30-35 ft) mineable seams: WA1 (upper split) and WA2 (lower split). The midburden between the WA1 and WA2 increases to a maximum of 120 ft thick. Structurally, the WA2 seam remains relatively flat, whereas the WA1 rides up over the parting and has a dipping structure. In conclusion, several thin rider seams (1-4 feet in thickness) occur within the overburden. They are quite consistent throughout the eastern portions of the lease but become more sporadic west of the splitline. The rider seams are not mined due to poor quality. The WA in the northern half and the WA1/WA2 in the southwest are the only seams mined at NARM. There are no known faults within the controlled coal area.

NARM is on the eastern flank of a regional syncline. The bedding inclination is gentle with dips less than three degrees toward the west. Because of the undulating character of the coal beds, there can be localized dips toward the east. Many of the coal beds in the Fort Union and Wasatch formations have been oxidized and burned along their outcrops producing clinker (locally referred to as the scoria). The clinker is the baked or thermally altered shale and sandstone in the strata overlying the burned-out coal bed.

Mineralization and Deposit Type
The mined coal at NARM is high volatile sub-bituminous C as defined by ASTM coal rank. The coal seam has very low sulfur content and is marketable as thermal coal for power generation. The heating value of the coal seams ranges from 8400 to 9250 BTU per pound over the remaining project area and the heating content generally increases with increasing depth.

The area is categorized as having low geologic complexity based on the following factors:
- The Wyodak-Anderson (WA) seam is laterally continuous and can be correlated using geophysical logs across large distances with high confidence.
- The seam is generally flat-lying and gently dipping towards the west with minor undulations. The depth of cover to the WA seam is generally shallow from the outcrop along the east to a maximum of 450 ft and averaging 320 ft for the remainder of the reserve.
- There are no major geologic anomalies across the area except for two well-defined seam split areas: a ribbon split in the southwest and a monocline with a hanger seam toward the east.
- The WA seam is currently mined across most of Campbell County and the northern portion of Converse County.
- Local quality variations are small and regional quality trends have been established from a long mining history.

Reserves

Lock

- subscription is required.

Mining Methods

Lock

- subscription is required.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Lock

- subscription is required.

Processing

Lock

- subscription is required.

Production

CommodityUnits202320222021202020192018201720162015
Coal (thermal) M tons  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe859810293109
Heat ContentBTU/lb8,8008,8008,8008,8008,8008,8008,8008,800
All production numbers are expressed as ROM coal.

Operational metrics

Metrics202320222021202020192018201720162015
Coal tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe85,340,711 tons98,315,794 tons101,595,323 tons92,863,811 tons109,343,913 tons
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Financials

Units202320222021
Book Value M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Lock

- subscription is required.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 28, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 28, 2024

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2023
...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2020
...... Subscription required 2019
...... Subscription required 2018
...... Subscription required 2017
...... Subscription required 2016
...... Subscription required 2015

Aerial view:

Lock

- subscription is required.