Knight Hawk Coal LLC started operating mines in Southern Illinois after many of the larger companies left the region.

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View a slideshow presentation of the Knight hawk mines.

Photos by Steve Jahnke | Production by Caleb Hale

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The company operates five mines and is preparing to open an underground mining operation near Royalton.

The opening of the new mine, Royal Falcon, is a example of the revitalization of the coal industry in Southern Illinois. While the local market for the product is seeing an increase, the industry as a whole is ever-changing.

Industry decimation

Southern Illinois was once a leader in coal production, but several factors through the years have led to a decimation of the industry in the region, said Joe Angleton, director of the Illinois Office of Mines and Minerals.

The major factor in the industry's decline was the Clean Air Act, he said. Congress passed the act in 1970, but the impact on Southern Illinois coal wasn't felt until the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

These amendments were aimed at preventing the burning of high-sulfur coal. Coal in the Illinois Basin, which is Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, is bituminous coal and is very high in sulfur content. Many utility companies began using western coal, which is a lower-sulfur coal, for their operations.

"Illinois should be an exporter of electricity, not an importer of western coal," Angleton said about Illinois' coal potential.

Phil Smith, director of communications for the United Mine Workers of America, said mines nationwide began to reopen around 2003, when oil prices escalated. The demand for coal as an energy source continues to provide reason for regrowth in the industry.

A possible rebirth

The coal industry in Southern Illinois is beginning to see growth again.

Many utility companies have begun installing scrubbers and other technologies that allow for the safe burning of high-sulfur coal, Smith said.

Steve Carter, owner of Knight Hawk, said Southern Illinois has a lot to offer to the coal mining industry, which has also contributed to recent expansion.

"Illinois coal resources were very abundant and economically recoverable," he said.

Carter said competitive coal is available in the region, and that is a drawing factor for mining companies. There is also a strong work force in Southern Illinois for the industry.

While signs of a rebirth are evident, Carter said market development for high-sulfur coal has been slow to develop. He expects it to take off at the end of this decade or the start of the next.

Safety first

One of the most significant changes in the coal mining industry since the 1960s has been improvements to safety and training.

"When I went into the mine in the late '60s, training didn't exist," Angleton said. "They put you in the hole, and you followed someone around."

Dale Winter, underground mine manager for Knight Hawk, said since the 1980s there have been significant changes to mine, ventilation and roof control guidelines.

"Obviously with the events in the last couple years, there has been a lot of regulation, not only by the state of Illinois but by the Mining Safety and Health Administration," he said.

Coal mine safety has recently been a hot topic because of the six miners trapped in the Utah mine and the death of three miners in Indiana.

"There's always been and always will be an inherent danger that exists," Angleton said. "We attempt to control that to the extent that is humanly possible."

Miners are still required to be underground in an alien environment, and administration is not taking any shortcuts when it comes to safety, he said.

Automating the industry

The other most noticeable change in the coal mining industry is technology.

In the 1950s, a piece of equipment called a continuous miner was introduced to the industry, Smith said. The continuous miner digs into a wall of coal, filling a 13-ton truck in about 35 seconds, Winter said.

"What used to take 1,000 coal miners now takes 100 because of the improvements in technology," Smith said.

Highwall mining also became available as technology developed. Highwall mine equipment digs into a wall of coal six feet tall, about eight feet wide and up to 1,000 feet deep, Carter said.

The advent of new technologies has also led to an increase in underground mining. Royal Falcon will be Knight Hawk's second underground mine when it opens. The company's first underground mine, Prairie Eagle, has been more efficient than anticipated, Carter said.

"Technology has really changed the scope and allowed us to be productive as an energy source," he said.

adam.testa@thesouthern.com / 351-5031