U. S. Fuel's King Mines

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This page was last updated on March 1, 2025.

King Mines

(Major portions of the following comes from documents on file with the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining.)

Hiawatha No. 1 and No. 2 Mines

The original Hiawatha No. 1 mine of the Consolidated Fuel company was in Middle Fork of Miller Creek canyon, with its portal at the western end of the canyon. When initially developed in 1907 the Hiawatha No. 1 mine headed into the Hiawatha seam due west from the surface opening.

The Hiawatha No. 1 mine used a surface tram, about 1-3/4 miles long, to bring the coal down to the railroad loadout at East Hiawatha, with the community surrounding the mine opening at the head of Middle Fork known as Hiawatha.

The Hiawatha No. 2 mine was opened within two years, and headed into the Hiawatha seam due south from the surface opening. The Hiawatha No. 2 mine used the same surface tram as the Hiawatha No. 1 mine.

Hiawatha Mine No. 1 and Hiawatha Mine No. 2 were closed in 1928, and all coal was transported from the Black Hawk mine, renamed as King Mine No. 1. This meant that the tramway from the No. 1 and No. 2 mines down to East Hiawatha was removed from service, as was the new coal preparation plant and loadout at East Hiawatha.

When the later King Mine No. 4 was opened in 1974, and the King Mine No. 5 was opened in 1978, both were located a very short distance up-canyon from the original Hiawatha Mine No. 1 and Hiawatha Mine No. 2 mines.

King Mine No. 1

(1911-1974)

King No. 1 (the original Black Hawk mine), mined the eastern parts of the Hiawatha Seam, south of the town of Hiawatha. Mining activity later moved into the 'A' Seam, above the mined-out Hiawatha Seam.

The earliest use of the "King Mine" name appears to be in late December 1927, when King Mine No. 1 and King Mine No. 2 were each called out in separate newspaper articles. (Salt Lake Telegram, December 25, 1927; Eastern Utah Advocate, December 27, 1927)

The original Black Hawk mine of the Black Hawk Coal company, later renamed as King Mine No. 1, was in the area south of the town of Hiawatha; the mine used a surface tram to bring the coal down to the preparation plant.

The original surface tram, 8000 feet long from mine portal to the Hiawatha preparation plant, was removed in 1974 after the King 1 mine was connected underground with the new King 4 mine.

King Mine No. 2

(1909-1928)

The original Mohrland mine of Castle Valley Coal company, later renamed as King Mine No. 2, was in Cedar Creek canyon, with its portal at the western end. The Mohrland mine used a surface tram, 1-1/2 miles long, to bring the coal down to the railroad loadout at Mohrland.

King No. 2 (the original Mohrland mine) was opened in 1909 and mined the eastern parts of the Hiawatha Seam north of Mohrland.

The Hiawatha No. 2 mine was closed in 1928. By 1997 the mine was being used as an underground reservoir for water originating in the King 4, 5 and 6 mines, with plans to drain this underground reservoir as part of final reclamation. The reservoir was constructed by sealing off the mine entries with reinforced concrete bulkheads.

King Mine No. 3

(1948-1975)

King No. 3 was opened in 1948 and was located in South Fork and mined the eastern parts of the Hiawatha Seam (mined out).

"In 1948, the King #3 Mine was opened in the South Fork of Miller Creek. The #3 Mine operated until 1975, when it was shut down. Operations at #3, consisted of the portal end vent shaft, showers and office, shop buildings and stock pile. The proposed operation of King #6, is to reopen the King #3 Mine. This will be accomplished by opening a new portal and bypassing the old #3 portal. Many of the existing buildings will be renovated and reused. The conveyor will carry the coal to the new load-out facility. These are the only operations which will be constructed on areas that were not previously disturbed by construction of King #3."

King No. 3 was closed in 1975.

King Mine No. 4

(1974-1993)

King No. 4 was opened in 1974 and mined the 'A' Seam, later moved into the 'B' Seam north of Middle Fork, with a portal on the north side of the Middle Fork of Miller Creek canyon. The King Mine No. 5 was on the south side and the two mines shared surface facilities.

The coal in the 'B' Seam was extracted and hauled down to the haulage tunnels in the 'A' Seam through underground inclined tunnels. There were also matching ventilation tunnels between the two seams.

Portals for the King 4 mine were located on the north side of Middle Fork of Miller Creek. The mine was opened in 1974 when haulage and ventilation entries were driven outward from the northern extension of the King 1 (old Black Hawk) mine to the B seam outcrop in Middle Fork. Once portals for King 4 were established, the King 1 mine was sealed off and abandoned to the south. A set of entries which connect with the South Fork of Miller Creek canyon were left open and maintained for access and ventilation.

Mining in the King 4 mine was done by the room and pillar method. Production from the B seam was estimated to be 120,000 tons. The amount from the A seam was uncertain.

The ventilation portal for the King 4 mine, constructed in 1981, was in North Fork, about 3/4 mile to the north across the ridge from the mine portal in Middle Fork. The ventilation portal was constructed in the North Fork drainage to provide the King 4 mine with intake ventilation. Originally, the plan called for return ventilation with a fan and powerline. However, power was not available to the area, and the portal provided an additional intake airway for the mine. The intake portal sat on approximately one and a half acres of "disturbed" land. The portal was constructed of arched steel beams, 14-feet in diameter, on 48-inch centers covered with 0.165-inch (8 gauge) preformed liner plates. The portal and the site were sealed and the area regraded and reseeded in Fall 1993. A three-mile jeep road from Hiawatha to the ventilation portal is the only access.

The King 4 and King 5 mines shared the same surface facilities in Middle Fork. The King 4 and King 5 mines have been closed indefinitely. The Middle Fork mine complex contains approximately 12 acres and includes parts of the old Hiawatha No. 1 and No. 2 mines which were closed in 1928.

Coal haulage from the King 4 and King 5 mines was by 750 foot overland conveyor extending from the King 4 and 5 haulage portals to a stacking tower that fed a 13,000-ton storage pile. At the storage pile there was a vibrating feeder which loaded a 60 inch reclaim conveyor. The reclaim conveyor fed a hammermill crusher which discharged on to a 36-inch transfer conveyor to a 100-ton capacity steel truck loading silo. Coal was loaded and transported by bottom dump trucks using a triple-trailer setup, each trailer holding 22 tons, or 66 tons for the entire triple-trailer setup. The trucks transported the coal from the loading facility to the Hiawatha processing plant, a distance of about 2.8 miles. The haul road, built in 1974 and which still exists, is paved and is 24 feet wide with additional width for shoulders, making a road approximately 35 feet wide.

Production from the King 4 Mine ceased in 1993 and the access and ventilation portals were sealed.

King Mine No. 5

(1978-1983)

King No. 5 was opened in 1978 and mined the 'B' Seam (above the 'A' Seam) south of Middle Fork. In this part of the coal vein, the 'B' Seam was about 5-1/2 feet thick, requiring the use of low-profile mining equipment. Approximately 80 feet of sandstone separates the 'A' Seam from the 'B' Seam above it.

Portal for the King 5 mine was located on the south side of Middle Fork of Miller Creek, with King No. 4 mine located on the north side. The two mines shared surface facilities.

King 5 mine workings are located in sections 29, 30, 31, and 32, Township 15S, Range 8E. The King 5 mine had four portal openings: an exhaust fan portal, belt haulage portal and an intake air/manway portal in Middle Fork and an additional intake air portal in South Fork. Five main development headings were driven due south through the center of the B seam coal reserve block between South and Middle Forks. Room and pillar extraction methods were employed similar to those in the King 4 mine. Coal was combined with coal from the King 4 mine at a transfer point near the portal and then conveyed to the 13,000 ton stockpile.

The King 5 mine is separated from the underlying Hiawatha No. 1 mine by approximately 120 feet of non-mineable "interburden," including sandstone and shale. Mining within that portion of the King 5 mine that overlies the old Hiawatha No. 1 mine has shown that subsidence would not occur above old room and pillar workings within the permit area where the pillars in the old Hiawatha No. 1 mine have been left in place. Most pillars were left in place in the old Hiawatha Mine at the completion of mining. Subsequent mining in the overlying King 5 mine has shown none of the compression or tension effects that cause subsidence.

The King 5 mine was deactivated in 1983 due to poor market conditions and has remained inactive since that time. Conditions within the mine remain good and it would be reactivated if market conditions improve.

King Mine No. 6

(1981-1988)

King No. 6 mined the western parts of the Hiawatha Seam and the B-Seam above it, with a portal in the South Fork of Miller Creek canyon. The King 6 mine was opened in 1981 and deactivated in December 1988.

The South Fork surface facilities were constructed in 1947 for use by the King No. 3 mine. Beginning in 1981 work was started on upgrading the existing structures and construction of a new haulage portal to serve the new King No. 6 mine. A 42-inch overland conveyor carried the coal from the mine mouth, down-canyon approximately 2,400 feet from the mine mouth to a 5,000-ton coal stockpile where it is loaded onto trucks and hauled three miles to the processing plant at Hiawatha.

From 1948 to 1975, the portals of the King No. 3 mine at this location supported operations in the King No. 1 and King No. 3 mines which were interconnected underground. Beginning in 1981 work was started on upgrading existing structures and construction of a new haulage portal to serve the projected King No. 6 mine. Old portals of the King No. 3 mine were rehabilitated and utilized for intake and return air systems. The existing bath house, shop, ventilation fan structure and sewer and water systems were upgraded to support the King No. 6 mine.

The King No. 6 mine was opened in 1981 when two portals existing from the abandoned King No. 3 mine were reopened for ventilation and one additional portal was constructed for access and coal haulage. The main development heading was extended to the west in the Hiawatha seam. If economic conditions warranted, plans were to develop two room and pillar continuous miner production sections; one in a westerly direction and one in a due north direction.

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