Blackstar D-1 Mine

[Headframe Hunters]

Just a quick post about this little low-seam truck mine in Harlan...D-1 was "born" about ten years ago, employed about thirty men, and idled after a few years of production. D-1 may not even be her actual name, nailing a mine's name down is next to impossible in the coalfield without a sign, or talking to someone who worked it!


Continuous miner. The conveyor "tail" on the left loaded coal onto shuttle cars, while the "head" on the right mechanically cut coal.


Some of the portals. D-1 had five portals - two man portals, one conveyor portal, one exhaust fan portal, and one backup.


Tanks and cables scattered around. Even when it was operating, there wasn't much up here besides for the office trailer, loader, and mining equipment.


The fan housing. The orange cone on the left is the fan's exhaust duct. By blowing air out this duct, low pressure is created inside the mine, sucking fresh air in.


This conveyor carries run-of-mine coal out and drops it onto a lower pad. A front-end loader would then load the coal onto dump trucks, which would haul it to the prep plant for classification, washing, and eventual loading onto unit trains bound for power plants.


I am jealous of the view these guys had. If I can ever find a job in the eastern coalfield, I'll need to seriously consider it - cheap living, gorgeous mountains, and lots of cool stuff to explore!

[Eagle90]

Cool! Too bad you couldn't get inside. Not that there's probably much to see in a coal mine.....

They only opened 10 years ago? Must have reused equipment from somewhere else. Looks like it's been abandoned longer than that.

[Headframe Hunters]

Yeah, I figure that miner was reused from another mine. Underground equipment gets beat up to an extent you'd hardly believe; I think that one was used for more than just a couple of years before being dumped here.

To be completely honest, even if the portals were open, I wouldn't have gone in. Coal mines build up a lot of toxic, asphyxiative, and/or explosive gases if the ventilation system doesn't run. The portals are fenced because this mine is technically still "active" with MSHA, and MSHA requires idled mines to have some means of deterring (not preventing, methbillies will always find a way) unauthorized people from getting underground. We were technically authorized; mine guards in eastern Kentucky are generally agreeable to people asking to come on property to take pictures

More than likely, all that's left underground is the belt line and possibly a tracked feeder/breaker. Mines like this are short-lived deals that don't have more than the absolute bare minimum of underground infrastructure. The operating company still exists, so I figure the other equipment was either sold or transferred to another mine.