April 8, 2025 - Colorado coal production declined somewhat last year but increased at the North Fork Valley’s West Elk Mine, which continues to lead mines in the state in production.

Statewide production was just over 11 million tons in 2024, down from about 11.7 million tons in 2023, according to recently released Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety data. However, West Elk production grew from about 3.42 million tons to 3.7 million tons.

Much of last year’s drop is attributable to Blue Mountain Energy’s Deserado Mine in Rio Blanco County, which saw production fall to 2.33 million tons from about 3 million tons the previous year. Deserado last year continued to rank second in production behind West Elk.

Production at the Colowyo Mine totaled about 1.9 million tons, and the Trapper Mine produced 1.52 million tons. Both supply the nearby Craig Station power plant outside Craig. Trapper’s production was down a bit from 2023, while Colowyo’s increased by about 200,000 tons.

Production at the Foidel Creek Mine in Routt County totaled about 1 million tons last year, and the King II Mine in La Plata County produced 579,605 tons.

Combined, the mines employed 958 miners as of the end of the year, with West Elk leading in employment, with 274 miners.

West Elk’s production in 2023 had been constrained somewhat by geological challenges, an issue that had been expected to end once it moved to more favorable geological areas. The mine returned to strong production by late in 2023, its owner reported earlier last year.

The mine had been owned by Arch Resources, but in January Arch completed a merger with CONSOL Energy, forming a new company called Core Natural Resources. The new company will have a bigger focus than Arch had on production of thermal coal, like that produced at West Elk, which is used in power production. Arch had been shifting its attention over the years to mines that produce coking coal for the steel industry. CONSOL, meanwhile, had been experiencing growth involving exporting thermal coal to global markets, and West Elk long has been capitalizing on export markets for its coal.

The future is far dimmer for most other mines in the state, and thus for coal production in the state overall. Under a legal settlement, the Deserado Mine’s sole customer, the Bonanza power plant just across the border from it in Utah, must stop burning coal once it finishes burning 20 million tons of coal during this decade. The mine employs 148 miners.

Meanwhile, one of the three power generating units at the Craig Station is scheduled to shut down at the end of this year under an agreement with regulators to address regional haze problems. Remaining generation at the plant, which is operated by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, is scheduled to end in 2028. The plant is the sole customer of the Colowyo and Trapper mines, which combined employ 255 miners.

The Foidel Creek Mine provides coal to the nearby Hayden Station power plant, which also is slated for closure by 2028, and northwest Colorado is bracing for the upcoming economic impacts of losing both power plant and mining jobs.

Coal production in Colorado peaked in 2004 at nearly 40 million tons. Domestic demand for thermal coal has been impacted in recent decades as utilities have faced regulatory pressure to shift to cleaner power sources and the cost of renewable energy such as wind and solar has fallen.