Midway mine is a surface mine in Ohio County, located near Centertown, on the old Midway Road area that connected highway 85 with highway 62. The surface mine includes a prep plant with a automated rail "Load Out" facility. The prep plant uses a nuclear analyzer and has the ability of being able to produce five different types of coal. Using the "Load Out", the coal can then be loaded on a rail system that has a 150-car rail loop which can be connected to the PAL and the CSX railroads.
The Illinois Coal Basin has and is rich in coal deposits. Some of this coal is just a few feet beneath the ground surface and other coal is buried several hundred feet deep. Coal quality is rated by several different methods, one of which is the BTU content of the coal. The coal buyers usually pay or bid on this quality of coal. Another coal rating that has been in effect since men started going into a coal mine is a number rating. Generally in this area, the coal number is from number nine to fourteen with the lower number, in most cases, being more desirable coal. These numbers refer to a layering or a seam of coal with the number nine coal being deeper in the ground and with the higher number coal seam being closer to the surface. Of course, this system does not consider erosion and such. In other words, a number 9 coal seam contains coal that is usually lower in sulfur content and higher in heat value or BTU than the higher number seams of coal. For the most part, the area companies of power plant furnaces prefer the lower sulfur content and the higher BTU content coal. This is where the prep facilities come into play. There is a small difference in the types of coal that are most efficient for the area power plants. The Paradise Steam Plant was designed and built for less quality or a lower grade of coal than in those of other areas. The lower grades of coal are cheaper and the power plants can use the less desirable and high numbered layers of coal. Thus, the prep plant can wash the coal to remove sulfur and other impurities and than blend the number 9 coal, or the number 11 coal, with the higher numbered coal to come up with a mixed or a blend of coal that is most efficient for their furnaces.
The Midway Mine is presently extracting #13A, #13 and #11 coal seams. These coal seams are being uncovered with a Page Dragline and trucked to the prep plant. There the coal is processed and loaded on rail cars from a "Rail Loadout" facility. The PAL or the CSX Railroad will pick up these loaded coal cars and transport them to power plants in the area. The Midway Mine has been producing coal since 2009. Midway sold 1.7 million tons of coal in 2011.
Thanks for looking.
See you.....
jrd