Mine Index 0366   Orient Number Two Coal Company,   Orient No. 2 Mine

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INTERPRETING A MINE SUMMARY SHEET
Unlocated Mines In: Franklin unlocated
County: Franklin
Quadrangle: West Frankfort
County Coal Data: Franklin
Shown On Map: Yes
Unlocated: No
MSHA ID:

Mine Index Number: 0366

Company Name: Orient Number Two Coal Company
Mine Name: Orient No. 2 Mine
Start Date: 1922 End Date: November 1960
Type of Mine: Underground
Total acres shown: 9,638
Acres after map date: 46 General Area of mining acres shown:

Shaft, Slope, Drift or Tipple Location(s)

Type County Township-Range Section Part Section
Main shaft Franklin 7S 2E 13 NW SE SW
Auxiliary shaft Franklin 7S 2E 13 NE SE SW
Shaft No. 3 (air) Franklin 7S 2E 1 SE NE NW
Shaft No. 4 (motor) Franklin 6S 2E 36 NE NE SW

Geology

Thickness (ft)
Seam Depth (ft) Min Max Ave Mining Method
Herrin 480-500 8.0 12.5 9.0 HER

Geological Problems Reported

An explosion in 1951 resulted in 119 men killed, ranking second only to the Cherry Mine fire (Bureau County, 1909) in number of deaths. The mine had been classified as gassy, and had additional safety procedures (rock dusting to alleviate combustible coal dust in the mine, certified examiners monitoring the mine prior to each shift, etc.) An exhaustive investigation of the cause of ignition was narrowed down to two possibilities: an electrical arc from the operation of a motor or personnel smoking underground. The methane gas had apparently migrated from abandoned workings. The roof was at least 40 feet of shale, and generally up to 19 inches of top coal was left to support this roof. Some calcite appeared as fracture filler, and some thin pyrite stringers were present in the top coal. Some small slips were present, but did not seriously affect mining. The northward dip of the bed and the presence of a few rolls required some grading to be performed. The floor consisted of 4 to 18 inches of underclay that heaved “readily but not far”. The microfilm source map shows generally north-trending faults along the west side of the mine, part of the Rend Lake Fault System. In some cases, mining was not badly impacted, but in other areas, entries and rooms were truncated due to faulting.

Production

Company Mine Name Date Production (tons)
Chicago, Wilmington and Franklin Coal Company New Orient, Orient No. 2 1922-1959 60,003,670
Orient Number Two Coal Company Orient No. 2 1959-1960 810,507
Orient Number Two Coal Company Orient No. 2 1960-1960 293,263 [1]
Total Production: 61,107,440

Production Notes

Coal Report production (if available)

Sources of Data

Source Map Map Date Original Scale Digitized Scale Map Type
Microfilm, document 351453 7-1-1960 1:2400 1:5296 Not final
Company, 4103.F7 i5.1-63 1-1-1960 1:12000 1:12000 Not final

Annotated Bibliography (Data source - brief description of information)

Coal Reports - Production, ownership, years of operation, depth, geologic problems.
Directory of Illinois Coal Mines (Franklin County) - Mine names, mine index, ownership, years of operation.
Mine notes (Franklin County) - Mine type, shaft location, seam, depth, thickness, geologic problems.
Microfilm map, document 351453, reel 03136, frames 160-171 - Shaft locations, mine outline, mining method.
Company map, ISGS map library, 4103.F7 i5.1-63 - Shaft locations.

Mine Notes

Mine Images

[[:Orient No. 2|Orient No. 2]]These files may not be true to scale and are not georgistered. Map Type: Microfilm
Map ID: 351453
Company: Orient Number Two Coal Company
Mine Name: Orient No. 2
Caption:
Map Date: 7-1-1960
Map Status: Not final
Image Credit:
Note:
More Info: M0366
Full Res Download:These files are true to scale and most are georegistered for gis software. These files may be a very large (>1GB) download! https://wikiimage.isgs.illinois.edu/ilmines/franklin/m0366.zip

Photographs

Notes

  1. Production after map date