Galatia Quadrangle

Mining in the Galatia Quadrangle

Mining began in the Galatia Quadrangle in 1902, when the Galatia Coal Company opened a mine in the Herrin Coal, several miles north and west of Harrisburg. The following year, the Diamond Coal Company began operation, mining the Springfield Coal northeast of Harrisburg. Mining continues today at American Coal Company’s Galatia Mine (mine index 1001) and at Millennium Portal (mine index 1032), both active underground mines.

The ilstrat:2660Herrin Coal and the ilstrat:2790Springfield Coal are the major seams mined in the quadrangle. The [[ilstrat:2660Herrin Coal] is typically 4 to 6 feet thick and ranges from 60 to 80 feet deep in the southern part of the quadrangle to over 400 feet deep in the vicinity of Galatia. The Springfield Coal ranges from less than 200 feet deep in the Sahara No. 16 Mine (mine index 801) to over 600 feet deep at the northern edge of the quadrangle. The seam averages 5 to 7.5 feet thick.

Mining methods were sometimes varied within a mine due to the changing conditions presented by the seam. In the Sahara No. 20 Mine (mine index 909), for instance, there were several areas where conventional mining was practiced, others where continuous miners were used, and still others where longwall methods were employed. The Springfield Coal is often interrupted by ‘rolls’, or channel fills, and by sheared fractured zones where the coal is crushed. In some locations, large plant fossils, including leaves, stems and bark, were seen in the roof. Occasionally fossil tree stumps, or ‘kettlebottoms’, were found in growth position.

This quadrangle lies in an area of southern Illinois disturbed by the Cottage Grove Fault System. This system consists of one or more east-west trending master faults and numerous northwest-southeast trending subsidiary faults. Many large faults and igneous dikes have been encountered in the mines. The dikes are generally a few feet to 30 feet wide and up to several miles long. Nelson (1981 and 1983) and Nelson and Krausse (1981) provide detailed descriptions of the channels, faults, dikes and other disturbances found in these mines.