New data from the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety show Moffat County’s Colowyo and Trapper coal mines mined more than 3.5 million tons of coal in 2018.
That doesn’t include Twentymile Coal Company’s Foidel Creek Mine in Routt County, which mined more than 3 million tons of coal by itself.
According to the data, Colowyo Coal Mine produced about 1.4 million tons of coal in 2018, while Trapper produced about 2.1 million tons.
Colowyo’s numbers are down from previous years; the mine produced about 1.8 million tons of coal in 2016 and about 2.3 million tons in 2017.
Trapper’s production, on the other hand, is up. The mine produced about 1.8 million tons of coal in 2016 and about 1.5 million tons of coal in 2017.
Routt County’s Foidel Creek Mine was down slightly in 2018, having mined about 2.5 million tons of coal in 2016 and some 3.8 million tons in 2017.
The number of jobs has remained relatively stable at all three mines near Craig for the past three years.
The data show Colowyo’s number of mining jobs averaged about 175 in 2016. That rose slightly to 185 miners in December 2017 and an average of about 190 in 2018.
Trapper employed an average of 153 miners in 2016. That number rose to 169 miners by December 2017 and an average of about 171 in 2018.
Foidel Creek Mine averaged about 282 miners in 2016. That number fell to 260 by December 2017 and averaged about 264 in 2018.
To read the data in its entirety, visit https://mining.state.co.us/Reports/Reports/Pages/Coal.aspx.
