Viper Coal Mine

This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Download full dataset

Report an error

Sub-articles:

Global coal mines Coal mines in China Coal mines in India Coal mines in the United States Coal mines in Australia Coal mines in Russia Coal mines in Indonesia

Related-articles:

Largest coal mines in the world Coal mine impacts from Covid-19 Environmental issues of coal Coal mining Coal reserves Coal terminals

Viper Coal Mine is a mothballed coal mine in Williamsville, Sangamon County, Illinois, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Viper Coal Mine	Williamsville, Sangamon County, Illinois, United States	39.947187, -89.497976 (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
Mothballed	–	1979	–

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	2025	Underground	–	–	373*	9

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
39.2	–	–	Illinois Basin	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
ICG-Illinois LLC [100.0%]	Knight Hawk Holdings LLC	USA

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
–	1.61	1.78	1.61	0.77	1.01	0.96	0.68	–	0

Reported Methane Emissions Data

Global Energy Monitor collates facility-scale methane emissions data reported by government and company sources collected in a systematic fashion. This mine is associated with the following methane emissions reports:

Table 7: Methane emissions

Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CO2 equivalent)	Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CH4)	Year of Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions	Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes) Reference	Reference type
1.9036000000000002	157.9988	2023	​	national government data

Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker August 2026 release.

Reported Methane Emissions Data

Global Energy Monitor collates facility-scale methane emissions data reported by government and company sources collected in a systematic fashion. This mine is associated with the following methane emissions reports:

Table 7: Methane emissions

Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CO2 equivalent)	Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CH4)	Year of Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions	Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes) Reference	Reference type
1.904	157.999	2023	​	national government data

Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker May 2026 release.

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Background

Viper Mine is an underground coal mine in Williamsville, Illinois, owned by International Coal Group. The mine is a room-and-pillar operation, utilizing continuous miners and battery haulers. The coal is transported to utility and industrial customers located in North Central Illinois, with shipments to electric utilities accounting for about 58% of coal sales. Approximately 61% of the coal reserves are leased.

City Water, Light and Power (CWLP) - the largest municipally owned utility in Illinois - is a major customer, with Viper Mine supplying 1.4 million tons of coal to the utility in 2010. CWLP's contract with ICG runs through 2020 at a cost of about $38 per ton. The mine has produced coal for CWLP since it began operations as Turris Coal Co. (owned at the time by Shell Mining Co.) in 1982, and ICG has owned the Viper mine since its purchase in 2004.

On May 17, 2011, it was reported that the the Viper Mine would become part of Arch Coal of St. Louis through Arch's $3.4 billion acquisition of ICG operations in West Virginia and Illinois by the end of June 2011. In Illinois, Arch also has a 49 percent stake in the Night Hawk Mine and has plans for the Lost Prairie Mine, both in southern Illinois.

• Owner: International Coal Group
• Parent company: International Coal Group
• Location: Williamsville, Illinois
• GPS coordinates: 39.947187, -89.497976
• Production: 2.1 million tons (2007)
• Type of coal: For power generation, Steam and Stoker.
• Mine type: Underground
• Mineable Reserves: 43.2 million tonnes (Proven and Probable, 2018)
• Equipment: Room-and-pillar
• Number of employees: 254

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.