Peabody Energy plans to increase coal production at its Twentymile Mine near Steamboat Springs and add 80 new workers.
The mine’s high-quality coal is in demand throughout North America, prompting the production increase, said officials of St. Louis-based Peabody.
Production is planned to increase 40 percent, growing from last year’s 8.7 million tons to an anticipated 12 million tons by 2008. The new workers will be hired this year, bringing the mine’s employment to about 480.
“Twentymile coal travels as far as Canada, the Southeastern United States and Mexico,” said Charles Burggraf, Peabody’s group executive of Colorado operations. “We are experiencing record demand for this … coal, and recent rail upgrades near Denver allow us to target increasing volumes.”
Twentymile’s coal has a high energy content and low levels of sulfur, making it cost-effective for utilities to burn in power plants while meeting emission mandates.
Twentymile is rated as one of the most productive coal mines in the world, using a technique called longwall mining in which a huge rotating bit automatically moves along the 9 1/2-foot high, 840-foot-wide seam of coal and extracts about 3,000 tons of coal an hour.
Peabody plans next year to install a new $60 million longwall system in the underground mine, which will boost production.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or at sraabe@denverpost.com.
