; UNDERGROUND
Making sense,
Pit & Quarry Publisher
Rob Fulop looks on as a
scaler works a rock face.
32 PIT&QUARRY February 2010
An Ohio producer has opened
reserves by opening two
underground limestone mines
in the past decade.
BY BRIAN RICHESSON
Successful aggregate producers make key decisions to enhance the efficiency of their operations. East Fairfield Coal Co. in North Lima, Ohio, is no different.
The 75-year-old company has adapted its
operation over the years and is now mining the
Vanport seam of limestone, located in portions
of southern Ohio and northeastern Ohio and
measuring 22 ft. to 24 ft. thick.
Realizing an opportunity existed when Es-sroc stopped selling stone in the area, East Fairfield Coal has opened two underground limestone mines in the past decade. Its Petersburg
operation started as a strip mine in 1996 before
going underground in 2000. Its Subtropolis
mine followed underground in 2006.
“We were running out of low cover reserves
in this market,” said Jeremy Mackall, vice president of East Fairfield Coal. “We figure that if
the overburden is greater than 70 ft., it makes
economic sense to underground mine it rather
than strip it. It also opened up reserves that cannot be strip mined without significant expense,
such as underneath roads and powerlines.”
