Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Dragline
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 2040 |
Extraction of Coyote Creek`s lignite tonnages is only economically viable as a result of the long-term mining agreements in place with Coyote Station owned by Otter Tail Power Company, Northern Municipal Power Agency, Montana-Dakota Utilities Company and Northwestern Corporation.
The Coyote has all permits in place for the Coyote Creek Mine to operate and adhere to a mine plan projected through 2040. |
Source:
p. 32,90,121
Company | Interest | Ownership |
NACCO Industries Inc.
|
100 %
|
Indirect
|
Coyote Creek Mining Company LLC.
(operator)
|
100 %
|
Direct
|
The Coyote Creek Mining Company, L.L.C. (Coyote), a subsidiary of The North American Coal Corporation (NACoal) is the owner and operator of the Coyote Creek Mine, an active lignite surface mining operation in production status. NACoal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NACCO Industries (NACCO).
Contractors
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Summary:
LOCAL GEOLOGY
The most prolific lignite-bearing stratum in the state is the Sentinel Butte Formation of the Fort Union Group. The most prominent characteristics of the Fort Union Group formations are the cyclical deposition and lateral persistence of the lithologic units, especially the lignite seams. The Sentinel Butte Formation is a continental deposit comprising interbedded calcareous clays, sandy clays, and lignite beds, with isolated lenses of fine-grained sands, silts, and rare limestones, ranging in color from light gray to dark brown and black. Except for the limestones and an upper sandstone unit, the sediments are essentially nonindurated. The claystone and sandstones are generally thinly bedded and not jointed. These sediments were deposited mainly in swamps or in the floodplains of very slow, meandering rivers. The Sentinel Butte Formation conformably overlies the Tongue River Formation (also known as the Bullion Creek Formation). The Golden Valley Formation, which is stratigraphically above the Sentinel Butte Formation elsewhere, is present near the permit boundary, but is gone in the permit area due to postdepositional erosion; therefore, the younger glacial deposits of the Coleharbor Group unconformably overlie the Sentinel Butte Formation in the study area. Outcrops of the Sentinel Butte Formation are sporadic; bedrock is largely masked by residual soils, slopewash, and/or glacial drift.
Where the entire Sentinel Butte Formation is present, as in western Merc ........

Mining Methods
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Dragline
Summary:
The lignite at Coyote Creek Mine surface mining operation is recovered using dragline and conventional truck and shovel mining methods due to the proximity of the lignite to the surface and the physical characteristics of the deposit. Mining operations includes; suitable plant growth material (SPGM) removal, replacement and storage, overburden removal, lignite production, and spoil backfill and grading. In the development phase, drainage and water control were established, and then the required infrastructure consisting of power, mine office and maintenance facilities, lignite stockpile facilities, and roadways were established.
ANNUAL AND TOTAL LIGNITE PRODUCTION
The Coyote Creek Mine is designed to supply a maximum of 2.5 million tons but generally supplies approximately 1.7 to 2.0 million tons of lignite per year to the adjacent Coyote Station Power Plant through 2040. Actual production is dictated by customer utilization. Approximately 36 Mt of lignite is expected to be mined and sold from 2022 through 2040 bringing the projected 25-year LOM tonnage to approximately 46 Mt since the mine’s inception.
TYPE AND GENERAL MINING METHOD
The Coyote Creek Mine is a single lignite seam surface mining operation, which currently encompasses approximately 8,444 acres within the permitted areas.
Coyote use standard surface mining techniques to extract lignite. Suitable plant growth material (SPGM) will generally be removed by tractor-scrapers ........

Source:
Summary:

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Production:
Commodity | Units | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Coal (thermal)
|
tons
| ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | 2,489,357 | 2,120,010 | 1,586,812 |
Heat Content | BTU/lb | | | 6,900 | 6,900 | 6,900 | 6,900 | 6,900 |
Sulfur | % | | | 0.93 | 0.98 | 0.98 | 0.98 | 0.98 |
All production numbers are expressed as ROM coal.
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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
Coal tonnes mined
| ......  | ......  | 1,980,470 tons | 1,710,767 tons | 2.49 M tons | 2.12 M tons |
Raw coal annual capacity
| ......  | ......  | | 2.5 M tons | | |
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Reserves at December 31, 2021:
Mineral Resources classification distances from point of measurement for each class are as follows: Measured – less than 660 feet, Indicated - from 660 feet to 1,320 feet, and Inferred - greater than 1,320 feet.
A cut-off grade of $2.27/mmBTU has been applied to the Measured and Indicated Resources to upgrade these resources into Proven and Probable Reserves.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity |
Proven
|
31,202,000 tons
|
Coal (thermal)
|
Probable
|
3,905,900 tons
|
Coal (thermal)
|
Proven & Probable
|
35,107,900 tons
|
Coal (thermal)
|
Measured
|
31,202,000 tons
|
Coal (thermal)
|
Indicated
|
3,905,900 tons
|
Coal (thermal)
|
Measured & Indicated
|
35,107,900 tons
|
Coal (thermal)
|
Source:

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