0798

Mine Index Number: 0798

Company Name:	Big Creek Coals, Inc.
Mine Name:	Big Creek No. 5 Mine
Start Date:	1902	End Date:	June 1923
Type of Mine:	Underground
Total acres shown:	126 (67 in the Herrin Coal, 59 in the Springfield Coal)
Acres after map date:		General Area of mining acres shown:

Shaft, Slope, Drift or Tipple Location(s)

Type	County	Township-Range	Section	Part Section

Main shaft (Herrin)

Saline

8S 5E

11

SW NW SE

Air shaft (Herrin)

Saline

8S 5E

11

SW NW SE

Geology

		Thickness (ft)
Seam	Depth (ft)	Min	Max	Ave	Mining Method

Herrin (1902-1916)

340-367

5.5

6.5

5.5-5.83

RPB

Springfield (1917-1923)

485.5

2.0

7.5

6.0

RPB

Geological Problems Reported

Two dikes were reported, 3500 feet east of the mine, trending northwest, and the other south of the mine, trending east-west. The Herrin Coal had some gas. The Springfield Coal was very “dirty”, and sandstone lenses rolled into the seam. Pyrite was present as thin lenses. The roof was good, mostly of limestone, but the shale beneath the limestone fell where it was thin.

Production

Company

Mine Name

Date

Production (tons)

Galatia Coal Company (add)	Galatia (add)	1902-1911Idle 1904	154,914

St. Louis Coal and Coke Company (add)	Galatia No. 1 (add)	1911-1912	20,000

Galatia and Saline Coal Company (add)	Galatia No. 1 (add)	1912-1913	14,000

Galatia Coal Company (add)	Galatia (add)	1913-1914	21,950

Brown and Jones Coal Company (add)	Galatia (add)	1914-1915	4,893

Durham Coal Company (add)	Durham (add)	1915-1917	66,870

Saline County Coal Company (add)	Saline County No. 5 (add)	1917-1918	56,918

Galatia Colliery Company (add)	Galatia No. 5 (add)	1918-1919	30,794

Big Creek Coals, Inc. (add)	Big Creek No. 5 (add)	1919-1923Production was not reported in 1922; the mine was idle or production was less than 10,000 tons	210,356

Peabody Coal Company (add)	Peabody No. 45 (add)	1923-1923	none reportedPeabody Coal Company was listed as the successor to Saline County Coal Company on the map, but no production was reported under this name.

Total Production: 580,695

Production Notes

Coal Report production (if available)

Sources of Data

Source Map

Map Date

Original Scale

Digitized Scale

Map Type

Microfilm, document 352833

6-1-1918

1:2400

1:5131

Final

Microfilm, document 352824

6-5-1923

1:2263This scale was not given on the map, but derived from known reference points.

1:4370

Final

Annotated Bibliography (Data source - brief description of information)

Coal Reports - Production, ownership, years of operation.

Directory of Illinois Coal Mines (Saline County) - Mine names, mine index, ownership, years of operation.

Mine notes (Saline County) - Mine type, shaft location, seam, depth, thickness, geologic problems.

ISGS Field notes (Saline County) - Geologic problems.

Microfilm map, document 352833, reel 03140, frames 405 (Herrin coal) - Shaft locations, mine outline, mining method, seam.

Microfilm map, document 352824, reel 03140, frames 387-388 (Springfield coal) - Mine outline, mining method, seam, geologic problems.