International Coal Group Begins Work on Viper Mine Expansion in Illinois

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In Elkhart, Illinois, a city hit hard by the recession that started in December 2007, there is a glimmer of hope when one hears of a $20 million coal mine expansion project that is moving forward despite the current economic climate.

Dirt is moving and contractors have begun the slope-sinking process that will create a third mine shaft for the Viper Mine by 2011. ICG Illinois, a subsidiary of International Coal Group Incorporated (NYSE:ICO) (Scott Depot, West Virginia), plans to expand the underground room and pillar operation from 2.1 million tons per year to 2.8 million tons per year by adding a third mine shaft/slope on the west side of Interstate 55, north of Williamsville, Illinois, in northern Sangamon County. The expansion also includes the addition of a portal facility and substation, upgrades to conveyors and other material-handling equipment, continuous miners, battery cars, storage silos, electrical and mechanical equipment.

The portal building as well as the bulk of the electrical and mechanical portions of the expansion will be bid out to subcontractors late fourth quarter 2010 or early first quarter 2011. Overall project completion is tentatively scheduled for fourth quarter 2011. Interested and qualified subcontractors are encouraged to send their company information to the mine to become involved in the construction process.

Without this expansion, the mine might have been forced to downsize, with resulting job losses.

"Our coal mine is more than 20 years old," said company controller Victoria Kennedy in a December 11, 2008, article in the The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois). "We just had a concern that the mine would squeeze shut, and we would lose those jobs. We hope that never happens, but the possibility is there." The project not only ensures the retention of 260 mining jobs, but it will also create 18 to 20 more.

In January, the Sangamon County Board unanimously approved extension of an enterprise zone that would provide ICG Illinois with approximately $900,000 in sales and property tax breaks for building materials required for the expansion of mine operations.

The mine originally opened in the 1980s with just one shaft south of Elkhart, but it has grown to include a second shaft north of Williamsville.

Industrial Info Resources has been tracking the Viper Mine expansion project since January 2009 and has been tracking other projects at the mine since January 2002.

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