Loading...Connects: Highway 133 (West Elk Loop Scenic Byway), Coal Creek Road (FSR #307), Redstone Coke Ovens
Coal Basin Monument in Redstone
Redstone, CO – Memorial
The Coal Basin Monument is a tribute to the miners of Coal Basin. This is a monument in Redstone, CO.
News about Coal Basin can be found at:
The Daily Sentinel (February 8, 2012) – Mining proposal stuns Redstone
The New York Times (April 17, 1981) – 9 MINERS DEAD AFTER EXPLOSION IN WESTERN SHAFT
Coal Basin is approximately four miles west of this point. It is a 27 square mile basin in which coal seams outcrop at 10,000 ft. and 10,500 ft. elevation in the near-vertical terrain beneath the Huntsman Ridge Escarpment. Mine entries were driven into outcrop, first by Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, which mined approximately 1 million tons of coal from 1900-1909, and then by Mid-Continent Resources, Inc., which mined approximately 28 million tons of coal between 1956 and 1991. Mid-Continent shipped coal to steel mills in Utah, California, Texas and South Korea.
The premium quality and unique properties of the coal were the inducement to mining under extremely difficult mining conditions. These included high elevation, steep terrain, heavy snows and avalanching on the surface. Underground, mining progressed on a steep pitch of 13° to 15°, despite gas and outbursting, with overburden which reached 3,000 ft. Many innovative mining techniques were developed in response to the mining problems of Coal Basin.
This monument consists of mine roof support shields, designed to withstand the massive overburden pressures, and mine fan pedestals.
Placed with gratitude and respect by the Mid-Continent Companies”
