Gallup Southwestern Coal Company, 1930, Overview

Mine is located in Sections 28 and 27, Township 15, Range 18 West. The mine is opened on the Black Diamond seam and is worked on the room and pillar system by driving dip planes on the pitch of the seam off the entries and turning the rooms off each side of the dip plane. The coal is gathered from the rooms by rope and landed on partings on the levels and taken from these partings to the main rope by storage battery locomotives.

The main slope is driven in a distance of 7,500 feet. From the mouth of the slope for a distance of 2,000 feet the angle of dip is 21 degrees but at this point the dip changes to 5 degrees. The thickness of the entry pillars are 50 feet thick. The rooms are driven on from 50 to 60 feet centers and vary in length from 200 to 400 feet. Rooms are driven 20 feet in width but occasionally have to be narrowed down on account of bad top. The mine has a number of openings to the surface and the ventilation is largely natural.

The mine has a fan installation but does not have to be used continuously. Two 4-ton and one 5-ton Mancha storage battery locomotives are used. Open lights are used in this mine.

The mine worked 114 days with a daily average of 89 miners and 20 day men in the mine and 20 men on top. The production for the year was 60,892 tons. The sales for the year were 62,277 tons. The excess of sales over the tonnage mined was made up from slack loaded off the ground that had been dumped the year previous. Approximate value of coal sold for the year is $183,311.69. Nationality of employees is given as Mexicans 76%, Slav 9%, Italians 5%, English 6% and American 4% in the mine, and Indians 50%, Mexicans 15%, Italians 15%, English 10%, and American 10% on top.

5,100 pounds pellet, 2,725 pounds black, and 6,100 pounds monobel powder were used to break down the coal in the mine.

Tipple betterments and equipment and office equipment were made to the extent of $5,945.02.

Sharp Hanson, General Manager, Gallup, New Mexico

Mathew Plese, Mine Foreman, Gallup, New Mexico

1. "GALLUP SOUTHWESTERN COAL COMPANY, ATHERTON MINE", Nineteenth Annual Report of the State Inspector of Coal Mines to the Governor of New Mexico, New Mexico, 1930, Pages 41-42.