Mine Index 0801 Sahara Coal Company, Inc., Sahara No. 16 Mine

Mine Index Number: 0801

Company Name:	Sahara Coal Company, Inc.
Mine Name:	Sahara No. 16 Mine
Start Date:	1913	End Date:	1971
Type of Mine:	Underground
Total acres shown:	2,861
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 slope

Saline

9S 5E

13

SE SW SW

Air shaft The old shaft was converted to an air shaft in 1941, when the new slope was constructed.

Saline

9S 5E

13

SW SW SW

Escape (old air) shaft

Saline

9S 5E

13

SE SW SW

Geology

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

Springfield

189-200

5.0

7.0

6.5

RPP

Geological Problems Reported

The mine had many faults, trending northwest-southeast. These faults controlled the mine plan to some extent, specifically in the southeastern part of the mine, where a large block was left unmined. The roof was not good, the seam was “hilly”, and the floor heaved slightly.

Production

Company

Mine Name

Date

Production (tons)

Elder and Bixler Coal Company (add)	Elder and Bixler (add)	1913-1920	41,322

Harrisburg Coal Mining Company (add)	Blue Bird (add)	1920-1924	598,492

Harrisburg Coal Mining Company (add)	Harrisburg No. 1 (add)	1924-1927	285,917

Idle		1927-1941

Bankston Creek Collieries Company (add)	Bankston Creek No. 16 (add)	1941-1950	4,359,557

Sahara Coal Company, Inc. (add)	Sahara No. 16 (add)	1951-1971	12,115,092

Total Production: 17,400,380

Production Notes

Coal Report production (if available)

Sources of Data

Source Map

Map Date

Original Scale

Digitized Scale

Map Type

State archive, IL_356_01

12-23-1971

1:2400

1:2400

Final

Annotated Bibliography (Data source - brief description of information)

Coal Reports - Production, ownership, years of operation, depth.

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

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

State archive, IL_356_01 - Slope and shaft locations, mine outline, mining method, geologic problems.