US coal producer Knight Hawk Holdings has closed its Viper mine in Illinois after its main customer decided to switch suppliers.
There are no other potential customers for the mine in central and northern Illinois, Knight Hawk president Jim Smith said. The landlocked operation is not near any rail loadouts and has no river access, making it difficult to reach other domestic and export customers.
A drop in coal demand from its primary customer — City Water Light and Power in Springfield, Illinois — coupled with increased mining costs, made it difficult for Viper to compete for the generator's business, Smith said. The mine and the utility "had a great relationship for decades and worked in respect to achieve a more positive outcome", Smith said.
The utility was Viper's largest and longest-running customer but it recently switched suppliers, replacing a long-term agreement with Viper with coal from Foresight Energy's Deer Run mine in Hillsboro, Illinois.
The utility has significantly reduced its demand for coal in recent years, falling to about 400,000-500,000 short tons/yr from well over 1mn st in the past, after retiring three of its four generating units.
The mine had "wonderful workers with incredible attitudes", and Knight Hawk has offered them the opportunity to seek positions at its southern Illinois mines, but few want to relocate more than two hours away, Smith said.
A team of 20 people remain to conclude operations and begin reclamation.
Production at Viper, which opened in 1983, mostly exceeded 2mn st/yr from 1997-2015, data from the US Mine Safety and Health Administration show. But production began to decline after that, as regional power plants were retired.
Production ended in July. Output for the first three quarters was 246,266st, a 58pc decrease compared with the same nine months in 2023.
Viper and Knight Hawk Coal are subsidiaries of Knight Hawk Holdings.
