While in Gillette, I hopped in a van with 10 other folks for a free tour of the Eagle Butte coal mine. The tours are run by Foundation Coal West, a Baltimore, Md. company, that owns two of the 21 coal mines in Gillette. Coal from the hundred-mile seam that runs beneath and around Gillette is considered "clean" because of its low sulphur content.
Above-ground coal mining is probably not a bad gig. The work is done by mega machines and vehicles, and drivers need no prior experience. Hourly wages start at $19 and top out around $46 for drivers. The average annual wage of a Gillette mine worker is $54,800, according to a handout provided by Foundation Coal West.
This is a shovel that's used by the trucks to grab the coal. Coal weighs less than dirt and is sold to power plants for about $2 a ton.
The trucks themselves can weigh as much as 360 tons and hold 1,800 gallons of gas, with proportionate amounts of engine oil and antifreeze. Tires cost tens of thousands of dollars apiece and need to be replaced after several months.
In front of this truck are members of the Ewald family, who just moved to Gillette for a job at a power plant.
This reminds me of the strip mines of western Illinois. I remember as a kid, driving by the mines at night and seeing the these gigantic machines doing their thing. All the while thinking about how they were huge man-made creatures.