Mine Index 0857 Peabody Coal Company, River King Surface Mine

Mine Index Number: 0857

Company Name:	Peabody Coal Company
Mine Name:	River King Surface Mine
Start Date:	1957	End Date:	February 1986
Type of Mine:	Surface
Total acres shown:	1722 (Pit No.s 1, 2, & 4); 1784 (Pit No. 3)
Acres after map date:		General Area of mining acres shown:
The area shown on the accompanying map, combined with that shown on Mascoutah and New Athens East Quadrangles, is much smaller than expected from the reported production. The area shown for River King Pit No. 6 Mine (mine index 0934) on the Tilden, Baldwin, and New Athens East Quadrangles is much larger than expected for the reported production. If both index numbers are combined for all of the River King Surface mines, the area shown on the quadrangle maps is in line with the reported production. The total area mined was 13,164 acres for a total of 104,187,734 tons.

Shaft, Slope, Drift or Tipple Location(s)

Type	County	Township-Range	Section	Part Section

Tipple

St. Clair

1S 7W

15

280 FSL, 180 FWL, NE SW

Pit 1 (1957-1965)

St. Clair

2S 7W

33 (Freeburg quadrangle)

Pit 2 (1957-1965)

St. Clair

1S 7W

22 (Mascoutah quadrangle)

Pit 3 (1965-1986)

St. Clair

2S 7W

26 (New Athens East quadrangle)

Pit 4 (1957-1965)

St. Clair

2S 7W

3 (Mascoutah quadrangle)

Geology

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

Herrin

58-78 other

6.2-7.0

Surface

Geological Problems Reported

The upper 6 inches of the Herrin Coal contained flat concretions in one area. Some difficulties encountered in surface mining Pit No. 3 included shooting the hard limestones (Piasa & Brereton) and in drilling the shot holes in the soft sand above the bedrock, which required continuous casing.

Production

Company

Mine Name

Date

Production (tons)

Peabody Coal Company (add)	River King Surface, Pits 1-4 (add)	1957-1975	70,303,672

Peabody Coal Company (add)	River King Surface, Pit No. 3 (add)	1976-1986	6,728,122

Total Production: 77,031,794

Production Notes

Coal Report production (if available)

Sources of Data

Source Map

Map Date

Original Scale

Digitized Scale

Map Type

Company, 4103.S31 i5.1-62

3-14-1969

1:12000

1:12000

Final Final for Pits 1, 2 (Mascoutah quadrangle), and 4. Not final for Pit 3 (New Athens East quadrangle).

Company map

3-8-1989

1:12000

1:12000

Final Final for Pit No. 3

USGS topographic map

1991

1:24000

1:24000

Secondary source

Annotated Bibliography (Data source - brief description of information)

Coal Reports - Production, ownership, years of operation, seam, depth, thickness, mining method.

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

Company map, ISGS map library, 4103.S31 i5.1-62 - Mine outline.

Company map, Coal Section files - Mine outline, mining method.

USGS Topographic map, New Athens East 7.5 minute quadrangle, 1991 - East extension of Pit No. 3