1970 - 2017: Arch Mineral Corporation and Arch of Wyoming at Hanna, Wyoming

Page by Bob Leathers with contributions by Bill Becker, Gary Milliken and Gary Beaver

Arch Mineral Corporation and Arch of Wyoming

Location on Google Earth: 41° 58' 20"W - 106° 32' 21" W
1970 - 1971 Mine Development
1971 - 2009 Coal Production Years
2009 - 2017 Reclamation Work

Arch Mineral operated four surface mines in Hanna from 1971 through 2009. The Arch mines in total produced 83,448,830 tons of coal. During the company's forty years, it experienced no work related fatalities. The Arch Seminoe No. 1 open pit mine started coal production in 1972. The mine produced coal for thirteen consecutive years. The mine was abandoned in 1984. The Seminoe No. 1 mine produced 24,210,781 tons of coal with a peak workforce of 235 employees in 1979. No miners were killed at the Seminoe No. 1 mine. The Arch Seminoe No. 2 open pit mine produced coal from 1972 through 1989. It was idle for 5 years from 1990 through 1994. Coal production resumed in 1995 through 2004. The mine was in production for 28 years. The mine entered reclamation work in 2005 and completed the job in 2015. The mine was engaged in reclamation work in Hanna for 11 years. Over its 44-year lifetime, the mine produced 35,478,877 tons of coal with a peak workforce in 1979 of 325 workers. The mine experienced no work related deaths. Arch gained control of the Medicine Bow surface mine from the Medicine Bow Coal Company in 1988 and operated the mine for 19 years from 1988 through 2006. During that time the mine produced 23,124,569 tons of coal with peak employees in 1993 of 97 workers. There was no were work related deaths at the mine. Arch's Elk Mountain Mine, a surface coal mine, started coal production in 2007. It was the last producing coal mine in Hanna. It opened in 2007 and closed production in 2012. Elk Mountain's coal was "loaded out" at the Arch Seminoe 2 facility. During the mine's last year in production, it produced only 786 tons of coal. The mine produced 634,603 tons of coal over its lifetime. At the peak of production it employed 17 workers. Since closing production in 2012, the mine has been engaged in reclamation. As of December 31, 2015, Arch of Wyoming still had employees in Hanna. During the year the company was working to reclaim the Elk Mountain Mine and the Seminoe 2 Mines.

1970's

Hanna Wyoming. Seminoe Mine #2.. (While Family from Bob Leathers)

Arch No. 2 Dump/Tipple (Gary Milliken)

1970's

Seminoe Mine No. 2 in Hanna, Wyoming. Images by Arch of Wyoming from Bill Becker.

1 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. City of Hanna with UP Coal Train. 5c846. (Arch of Wyoming)

2 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. Unit Coal Train. Wisconsin Electric Coal Cars. 58806. (Arch of Wyoming)

3 - Seminoe Mine No. 2. Head of Unit Coal Train. Tipple in the Background. 58878. (Arch of Wyoming)

4 - Seminoe Mine No. 2 at Hanna, Wyoming. 58822. (Arch of Wyoming)

5 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. View Showing Drill Holes for Overburden Blasting. 58828. (Arch of Wyoming)

6 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. View Showing Drill Holes for Overburden Blasting. 58826. (Arch of Wyoming)

7 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. View Showing Drill Holes for Overburden Blasting. 58830. (Arch of Wyoming)

8 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. View of Coal Loading Facilities at Mine. 58810. (Arch of Wyoming)

9 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. View Showing Coal Loading at Mine Seam. 58832. (Arch of Wyoming)

10 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. Unit Train Leaving Mine. 58842. (Arch of Wyoming)

11 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. Unit Coal Train Loading at Mine. UP Cars Loaded on Side Track. 58800. (Arch of Wyoming)

12 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. High View of Coal Mine Seam. 58837. (Arch of Wyoming)

13 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. Coal Stockpile at Mine With Unit Train in Background. 58820. (Arch of Wyoming)

14 - Seminoe Mine #2 at Hanna, Wyoming. Unit Coal Train, Coal Stockpile and Tipple in Background. 58794. (Arch of Wyoming)

2016

Location on Google Earth: 41° 58' 20" N - 106° 32' 21" W

Arch of Wyoming (Google Earth)

Arch of Wyoming's Seminoe 2 Dragline, Coal Dump and Mine Complex North of Hanna. Elk Mountain in the background. (April 2016) (While Family taken by Bob Leathers)

Arch of Wyoming's Seminoe 2 Mine Complex North of Hanna. (April 2016) (While Family taken by bob Leathers)

Arch of Wyoming's Seminoe 2 Dragline North of Hanna. (April 2016) (While Family taken by Bob Leathers, 2016)

Arch of Wyoming was first incorporated as Arch Mineral Corp. Seminoe II Mine then changed to Arch of Wyoming (April, 2016) (While Family taken by Bob Leathers)

Arch of Wyoming's Seminoe 2 Dragline and Coal Dump North of Hanna. (April 2016) (While Family Collection taken by Bob Leathers)

Arch of Wyoming's Seminoe 2 Coal Dump North of Hanna. (April 2016) (While Family taken by Bob Leathers)

2017

Images of the Arch of Wyoming Seminoe II Dragline
Hanna, Wyoming

Click on the image for a larger view.

It all ended at 7:15 AM on Thursday, July 13, 2017,
Hanna's last dragline came down at Hanna's last coal mine.

Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) of Phoenix, Maryland, USA (acting as Implosion Subcontractor to Main Demolition Contractor, Pacific Steel & Recycling of Rock Springs, Wyoming) performs the successful explosives severance of 10 steel plates (to release eight (8) cables), four (4), 3” diameter cables and one (1), 1” diameter cable resulting in the felling of a dragline crane boom in Hanna, Wyoming at 7:15 AM on Thursday, July 13, 2017. (YouTube, 1017)

1974

Arch Mineral Surface Mining in the Powder River Basin - Gillette, Wyoming

Wyoming Coal Mining shared with YouTube

Since 1974, surfacing mining has occurred in the Powder River Basin when the first trains full of coal left en route to states across the nation. This short video, produced in 2014 by the WSGS, showcases operations at the Arch Coal's Black Thunder Mine. (Wyoming Geological Survey)