Emilie's Coal Mine Report

Cherokee Coal Mine just outside of Honaker, Virginia

After eating for a good two hours at a sweet country kitchen—the usual—breakfast on the road, break your belt eggs over-easy/medium, home fries, biscuits with gravy, sausage patties and an omelet and several cups of coffee, we made it up the first hill. We were just about to enter the Breaks Interstate Park between Virginia and Kentucky, when we found the Cherokee Coal Mine!

We met George, 60 yrs, who has worked at this mine for the last 10 years. Now he works above ground, but he worked underground for 27 years. He showed us around above grown operation facilities, machinery, maps…gave us some very refreshing cold water and tips on how to avoid copperheads and rattlesnakes.

The Cherokee coal mine is the lowest mine within the surrounding mountains. It is not a strip-mine, but higher-up the mountain is stripped. They produce enough coal a day to fill 90-100 coal trucks. Each truck carries 40 tons (which is a mixture of rock and coal). This mine produces a very pure coal which is then mixed with other coal (with higher sulfur content) from the surrounding mines. The coal is then loaded onto trucks and taken to shipyards. Most of the coal from this mine is shipped to JAPAN--amazing from the Appalachian mountains of eastern Virginia all the way across the sea. Basically the coal is sold to the highest bidder. Recently the coal has sold for 180 dollars a ton, which is the most it’s ever sold for.

The mine is in operation 24/7. There are 4 shuttle cars in each section of the mine. And 12 men plus the boss on each shuttle car. No women presently employed at Cherokee. The miners work 10 hour shifts at $19 an hour, and overtime. On the sixth day they get double time. The bosses make between 70-80 thousand dollars a year.

These days the miners are traveling about 4 miles into the ground on shuttle cars with ripper heads for removing the coal. The tunnel is 20 feet wide by 43 inches high. Miners are not required to wear a respirator, only some do. Fan ventilation is required in all areas of the mine that are open and accessible to miners. Areas of the mine that are no longer in use are sealed off. The mine is also equipped with carbon monoxide detectors.

The miners take their lunch break underground. Smoking is not allowed but chewing tobacco suffices. Most reuse containers for holding ripper heads and bits as lunchboxes. Gary, who has worked underground for the last 36 years, loves fresh fruit for lunch. “I carry a fruit basket in my bucket.” He loves working as a miner following in the footsteps of his father. George on the other hand, wishes he had stayed in school, and would love to be hunting and fishing instead of mining.

Both George and Gary are interested in the idea of alternative energy--wind, solar etc. as coal is not a sustainable form of energy. They also say that there is not a lot of information available about progressive energy in the area, and that, as of late, coal mining is a thriving industry.