The 2012 national awards for excellence in surface mining bestowed honors to Peabody Energy’s Cottage Grove mine in Equality, Illinois; Glenrock Coal’s Dave Johnston mine in Glenrock, Wyoming; and Peabody Powder River Mining’s North Antelope Rochelle complex in Wright, Wyoming.

Earning good neighbor awards were Cloud Peak Energy’s Antelope, Cordero Rojo and Spring Creek mines near Gillette, Wyoming.

Alcoa’s Sandow operation in Texas also received recognition.

The OSM presents the awards each year to US coal mining companies with exemplary mining and reclamation.

Typically, winners demonstrate a commitment to using sound mining practices and executing highly effective reclamation plans designed to enhance post-mining beneficial use of the land.

The agency also handed out its 2012 abandoned mine land reclamation awards, which recognize abandoned mine land reclamation projects with exemplary reclamation techniques.

The national winner for the year was the Dents Run AML/AMD ecosystem restoration project in Elk County, Pennsylvania.

Earning the honor for the Appalachian region was the Lower Rock Creek Watershed restoration project in McCreary County, Kentucky.

The mid-continent region winner was the I-72 Piers 3 Sag Subsidence Emergency project in Sangamon County, Illinois and the winner in the western region was the Spring Meadow Lake abandoned mine reclamation project in Lewis and Clark County, Montana.

The OSM’s small project winner was the Maclean 3 abandoned mine reclamation project in Carbon County, Utah.

OSM will present the awards at the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs’ annual conference in Des Moines, Iowa, beginning on September 23.

The surface mines will be recognized for their achievements on September 26 as part of the Minexpo conference in Las Vegas.