The mine will service a 12-year coal supply agreement Peabody has entered through its Black Beauty subsidiary. The agreement with an existing electricity generating customer provides sourcing flexibility and runs through 2015, Peabody said.
The Francisco surface mine shipped 2.4 million tons of coal in 2002. Construction of the adjacent underground facility is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2003, with shipments beginning in 2004 at an initial rate of approximately 1 million tons per year.
“The agreements strengthen Peabody's industry-leading position in Indiana and the Midwest, where Peabody has the number-one sales position and controls 4.1 billion tons of low, medium and high sulfur coal reserves,” Peabody said in a statement.
Peabody sold 198 million tons of coal in 2002. Its coal products fuel more than 9% of all U.S. electricity generation and more than 2% of worldwide electricity generation.
