Coal: Limitless Energy

Coal: Limitless Energy. Vignettes in History. , The history of Alaska would not be complete without mention of the fuel that made possible the exploration, settlement, and industries of this immense land. COAL from the corners of Alaska (Coal Cove on the Kenai Peninsula, Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska, the Corwin Mines along the Arctic Coast and the Nenana and Matanuska Coal Fields of the Interior and Southcentral) powered whaling ships and U.S. Revenue Cutters on the high seas from 1879. The Yukon sternwheelers which transported gold-seekers to the gold fields in '98 and the massive dredges which mined the gold kept the gears turning with coal. The Alaska Railroad used coal from 1916 until 1954 when diesel locomotives replaced the coal-burning engines. U.S. Army and Air Force bases and the major power plants of the Interior; the Golden Valley Electric Association, Municipal Utilities System and the University of Alaska all utilized coal as their main source of power generation., Throughout its history the coal industry in Alaska fluctuated as various government acts and restrictions placed coal in and out of favor, as the economic need rose and fell, and as transportation to markets was available., The construction of the Alaska Railroad was a boon to the industry as it reached the Evan Jones Mine in the Matanuska Coal Field in 1916 and the Nenana Coal Field in 1919. Mining had begun in the Healy area in 1918 and the first commercial coal operation, the Healy River Coal Corporation, was founded in 1922 by Austin E. 'Cap' Lathrop. The underground mine located at Suntrana utilized horsedrawn sleds to transport the coal to Healy until the 4.4 mile railroad spur was completed later that year. In 1923 the railroad reached Fairbanks and coal was made available commercially throughout the Interior., In 1943 a former employee of Healy River Coal (who then established a logging business to supply them timber for underground props) joined the mining industry. He began Usibelli Coal Mine under a U.S. Army license and opened a small surface mine east of Suntrana. The mine was incorporated in 1948 under territorial law. As coal consumption in interior Alaska increased, Usibelli Coal Mine expanded to keep pace with the demand., In 1950 Cap Lathrop was killed when he was struck by a railroad car at his Suntrana operation. Following his death, the Healy River Coal Corp. was purchased by the newly formed Suntrana Mining Company. The Suntrana property was sold to Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. in 1961 and they operated the facility until 1963 when the last underground workings were mined out and closed., Joseph E. Usibelli became president of the Usibelli Coal Mine with the death of his father, Emil in a mining accident in 1964. The company expanded again in 1970 with the purchase of the Vitro Minerals Mine which was founded in 1963 by R&P Coal and Vitro Minerals., In 1971 Usibelli began a program of self-imposed reclamation on all its mined-over land setting a precedent of environmental awareness for the mining industry., By 1984 Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. remained a family-run business but long-term contracts with military bases and interior power plants and a historic fifteen-year contract to export coal to South Korea increased its production to 1.7 million tons annually, placing Usibelli Mine among the top 60 mines in the U.S. in production., This expansion caused tremendous changes at Usibelli with the purchase of a 33 cubic yard Bucyrus-Erie dragline, the Ace-in-the-Hole, in 1977; a resultant 'flywheel' or load stabilizer which softens the power drag on the local utility with the use of the electrically-operated dragline; completely computerized operations; modern laboratory engineering, and safety departments; and efficient tipple system., Though its high moisture content provides a lower BTU, Alaskan coal's extremely low sulphur content (less than 1%) makes it very desirable as a modern day fuel and the future of the coal industry in Alaska again looks bright.