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Black Castle Coal Mine

From Global Energy Monitor
(Redirected from Black Castle Surface Mine)
This article is part of the
Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
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Black Castle Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Julian, Boone County, West Virginia, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Black Castle Coal Mine Julian, Boone County, West Virginia, United States[1] 38.01, -81.57 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

Loading map...

Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Operating[1] 1990[1]

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.
Capacity (Mtpa) Production (Mtpa) Year of Production Mine Type Mining Method Mine Size (km2) Mine Depth (m) Workforce Size
0.04[2] 2024[2] Surface Open Pit 75.0* 19[2]

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt) Year of Total Reserves Recorded Total Resources (Mt) Coalfield Coal Type Coal Grade Primary Consumer/ Destination
Appalachia Bituminous

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Note: To access more comprehensive data on energy ownership, please visit the Global Energy Ownership Tracker.
Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Black Castle Mining Co LLC [100%][1] Contura Energy [100%] USA

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
ROM 1.45[1] 1.0[1] 0.58[1] 0.09[1] 0.0[1] 0.05[1] 0.13[1]

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker May 2025 release.

Background

Black Castle Surface Mine is a surface coal mine located near Sylvester, in Boone County, West Virginia. The mine is operated by Black Castle Mining Co., a subsidiary of Massey Energy. The mine had 252 workers, operating six days per week and producing an average of 11,700 tons of coal daily from six separate pits.[3]

In April 2009 Massey idled the Mine, citing "market conditions." A skeleton crew is currently keeping the mine going. Massey Energy Executives plan to take a look at the overall mine plan. The goal is to continue to bring small groups of workers back as demand increases.[4] In June 2012 Alpha said it was scaling back production at the Black Castle Surface Mine as well as the Republic Surface Mine, due to a declining 2012 export market for Europe.[5]

  • MSHA ID: 4607009
  • Operator: Black Castle Mining
  • Controller: Massey Energy Company
  • Union:
  • County: Boone
  • State: WV
  • GPS Coordinates: 38.01, -81.57
  • 2007 Production (short tons): 1,337,541
  • Coal Type: Bituminous
  • Mining Method: Underground
  • Mine Status: Active
  • Average No. of Employees: 101

Contact Details

Black Castle Mining Co.
Sylvester, West Virginia

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 https://web.archive.org/web/20240717193400/https://www.msha.gov/data-and-reports/mine-data-retrieval-system. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20240213175031/https://www.msha.gov/data-and-reports/statistics/mine-employment-and-coal-production. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "Coal Mine Fatal Accident Investigation Report", Mine Safety and Health Administration website, February 1, 2006
  4. Amanda Barren, "Massey Energy Idles Black Castle Mine, 300 Affected" WSAZ 3 News Channel, April 10, 2009
  5. Vicki Smith, "Alpha set to close 2 W.Va. mines, cut back at others," Associated Press, June 28, 2012.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References