Southern Utah Fuel Co. (Sufco)
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This page was last updated on March 10, 2025.
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Overview
Southern Utah Fuel Company, Sufco, has never been a railroad mine. Its coal is trucked to the railroad loadout at Sharp, 78 miles north and west, near Levan, Utah. A railroad has been proposed from Salina to Sharp, but economic conditions continue to delay its construction.
In September 2013, a 8.3 mile paved road was completed in Quitchupah Creek Canyon, allowing Sufco coal to be trucked eastward to customers in Castle Valley, including Rocky Mountain Power's power plants at Hunter, 37 miles, and Huntington, 56 miles.
The following history of Sufco comes from the Garfield County News, November 26, 1981:
The company was born in 1941 when Vernal J. Mortensen, a partner in Western Creamery in Monroe, Sevier County, found himself with a small amount of cash on hand when the Creamery was sold to Pet Milk Co. He met an old friend, a miner and prospector, who talked about some coal property in Convulsion Canyon located northeast of Salina.
Two Salt Lakers, named Thomas and Lund, already had begun development of the coal seam, with the anticipation of shipping the coal on the railroad. The plan was that the Denver and Rio Grande would build a main line from Denver to Los Angeles across the Sevier-Emery summit and through Salina. However, the railroad changed its mind and instead built the main line through Carbon County, to take advantage of the coal mining and shipping there, and on into Provo and Los Angeles. At that point the two Salt Lake developers abandoned the project. Mr. Mortensen recalls that previous work revealed a 13-foot coal seam, free from bone streaks and of a good marketable quality. Mr. Mortensen and three partners incorporated in 1941 and took on, what was then, a formidable task. His partners were Ren Hansen, Gus Hansen and Jack Robinson. Their first purchase was a used Caterpillar tractor and they started to build a road. That road had to be an 11-mile stretch over very rough terrain, requiring several month's of work. The task was finally complete and the road was made passable for small bob-tailed trucks.
The first coal was mined with a used Goodman short-wall cutting machine. The crews hand-loaded the coal for the first six years. By 1948, they had increased production to almost 30,000 tons a year and were selling coal from the Salina tipple instead of at the mine.
By 1973, the SUFCo Mine was producing about 340,000 tons of coal a year. In 1973 the Mortensen family and partners sold the mine to Coastal States Gas Corporation, a Houston energy firm. With growth and expansion continuing, the SUFCo Mine now produces 2.3 million tons a year.
To handle the volume, Coastal last year [1980] built a stockpiling and coal loading facility at Levan to handle 100-car unit trains.
The following comes from a description dated April 2003.
The SUFCO Mine, previously known as the Convulsion Canyon Mine is located at the southern end of the Wasatch Plateau Coal Field, approximately 30 miles east of Salina, Utah. It is on a tributary to Quitchupah Creek below the confluence of East Spring Canyon and Mud Spring Hollow. The current permittee is Canyon Fuel Company, LLC, owned by ARCH Coal and Itochu Corporation.
This mine began operation in 1941, mining federally-owned coal. The SUFCO Mine permit area currently encompasses approximately 21,633 acres with a combination of fee and federal leases. The majority of coal is longwall mined from the upper Hiawatha seam. Coal is moved by underground conveyor from the face to the portal, then shipped by truck to Sharp Siding near Levan, Utah where it is loaded onto rail and sent to Pacificorp's Hunter Plant near Castle Date, Utah. The annual production is about 7.6 million tons.
The following comes from United States Department Of Labor, Mine Safety And Health Administration, 2004:
The SUFCO Mine is an underground bituminous coal mine located approximately 30 miles northeast of Salina, Sevier County, Utah. The mine was originally opened in 1941 and was known as the Convulsion Canyon Mine. In 1974, the mine was purchased by Coastal States Energy Company, and a subsidiary, Southern Utah Fuel Company, was created to operate the mine. In 1997, ARCO Uinta Coal Company (ARCO) purchased 65 percent ownership of the property, and Itochu Coal International, Inc. (Itochu) of Japan purchased the remaining 35 percent. At that time, Canyon Fuel Company, LLC (Canyon Fuel) was formed to operate the mine. In 1998, ownership again changed as Arch Western Resources, LLC purchased the 65 percent ownership from ARCO, while Itochu continued its 35 percent ownership.
The mine produced 7.13 million tons of coal in 2003 with 281 employees. Daily production was approximately 28,500 tons. The mine worked two 10-hour production shifts and one overlapping 10-hour maintenance shift per day, five days per week. The mine has one retreating longwall section and two continuous mining machine development sections. The average seam height in the Upper Hiawatha Seam, in which the mine is located, ranges from 8.5 to 13 feet.
The current longwall section is located in the 3 Left Pines East panel, approximately 12 miles from the main portals. The face is 930 feet wide. A Joy 7LS3 shearing machine is used to cut the coal and a DBT PF5/2000/1342 armored face conveyor and stageloader convey the coal to the 60-inch panel belt conveyor. Two-legged Joy 2 x 970 UST shields provide roof support for the face.
Salina Coal Storage Yard
The Salina coal yard has been in existence since before the Levan storage yard, at least 26 years as of 2003.
High quality product was stored at Salina for shipment to Kennecott, on an as needed basis. As of 2003, the volume of coal stored at Salina was a half-million tons.
Coal was hauled to the Salina storage yard by either Barney Trucking or Robinson Transport using "Rocky Mountain doubles," which are single tractors pulling double drop-bottom aluminum trailers. The coal was dumped via the drop bottom trailers, and was then pushed or picked up and placed using a large front-end loader.
There was a portable conveyor belt with a loading hopper at the tailpiece (bottom) location and a discharge concentrator at the headroller (top). This was used to load trucks for shipment as needed.
Within the property boundary of the property owned by Canyon Fuel during 2003, there were various types of machinery, including both underground and surface types of mining machines. Crib blocks were stored adjacent to the coal storage area, and a conveyor-hopper arrangement was used to load crushed lava rock into "cans," used as a means of roof support in the gate roads of the longwall panels at the mine. A thousand gallon fuel tank was used for diesel fuel, and was within a bermed containment.
Also within the property was a large parking area and office building. The parking was provided for SUFCO employees who worked at the mine. The employees were bused to the SUFCO mine to minimize the need for parking within the narrow confines of the canyon where the main mine facilities were located. The building was used for receiving, file storage, and some administrative functions.
The coal pile at Salina (formally known as the Sufco Salina Coal Yard) is used by Sufco as a surge pile for its coal supply contracts with IPP near Delta, and to furnish a steady supply to the Sharp rail loadout. Quoting a 2004 letter to the Utah Division of Oil Gas and Mining, "The Salina Coal Yard typically functions as a surge pile for excess coal produced from the mine that is not required for immediate delivery to customers and as a stockpile from which customer's needs are met while the mine is not producing coal. The mine does not produce significant coal during normal shutdowns for equipment maintenance or a longwall move."
The Salina coal pile dates from 1970 and the Browning coal mine in Emery County (now the Emery Deep Mine). When the Sufco mine was expanded in 1977 it used the "Salina Coal Terminal" while the D&RGW railroad still served Salina. That ended with the Thistle flood in 1983, and the Sufco mine began using the Sharp loadout west of Levan. Presently, most of the Sufco coal is trucked to one of the power plants in Emery County, or to the Savage Coal Terminal south of Price. But the Sufco mine ships by truck to other customers, including IPP in Delta, as well as furnishing coal sales on the spot market.
Levan Coal Storage Yard
The Levan coal storage yard was where coal was loaded on rail, by the SUFCO/Canyon Fuel Company operation.
Timeline
October 21, 1910
Southern Utah Fuel Company filed its articles of incorporation with the secretary of state. (Salt Lake Herald, October 22, 1910)
"Articles of incorporation of the Southern Utah Fuel company of Nephi, Juab county, were filed yesterday. The capital stock of $25,000 is divided into 500,000 shares of the par value of five cents each. Three hundred thousand shares are to be held as treasury stock, and the remaining 200,000 are paid for by taking over a group of coal claims in Juab county. The officers of the company are: William A. Starr, president and treasurer; G. T. Holliday, vice president; James R. Reid, secretary. These officers, with George W. Ivory, Alex. Jennings and Charles W. Tolley, comprise the board of directors." (Salt Lake Herald, October 22, 1910)
March 10, 1911
"The Southern Utah Fuel company has purchased the entire business of the Salina Coal company and has reorganized into one corporation whose officers are: President, William Starr of Nephi; general manager and secretary, G F. Holliday of Salt Lake; directors, Charles Fuller of Nephi, Alexander Jennings of Nephi and George Ivory of Fountain Green. Within a few weeks the company expects to mine over 100 tons dally. The coal is of an excellent quality The mines are located in the Salina mountains." (Salt Lake Tribune, March 11, 1911; Eastern Utah Advocate, March 16, 1911)
July 29, 1911
"Ike Jennings of Levan and A. Eggertson of Provo have leased the two coal mines in the Salina canyon, belonging to the Southern Utah Fuel company. They will begin operating during the early part of September and put ten men to work in the lower mine and five in the upper. they will mine over 100 tons per day." (Salt Lake Tribune, July 30, 1911; press release dated July 29th)
August 10, 1911
"The Southern Utah Fuel company operated these veins last winter and produced 200 or 300 tons of coal which was sold to people in various towns in the county." One of the coal veins was located "just east of the second railroad tunnel and 100 yards from Red Aulm hill, and about 14 miles from Salina." The second coal vein was located "in a side canyon north of Saw Tooth and 18 miles from Salina." (Richfield Reaper, August 10, 1911)
May 5, 1927
Southern Utah Fuel company was shown among the companies and individuals of Sevier county that were delinquent and subject to sale at public auction. (Richfield Reaper, May 5, 1927)
May 20, 1937
Southern Utah Fuel company was shown among the companies and individuals of Sevier county that were delinquent and subject to sale at public auction, as a continuing holdover from the Tax Year of 1932. (Richfield Reaper, May 20, 1937)
1941
Southern Utah Fuel company was purchased by Vernal J. Mortensen and three partners, and began coal production.
(Garfield County News, November 26, 1981)
Coastal States Energy, 1973
December 1973
Coastal States Energy purchased the Sufco mine in December 1973.
1985
Under Coastal States ownership, the Sufco coal mine was the first in Utah to use a longwall machine. (Coal People magazine, June 2003)
(Read more about all of the Coastal States coal properties in Utah)
Canyon Fuel, 1996
December 1996
The Sufco mine was sold to Canyon Fuel Company, a new company owned jointly by Arco Coal (65%) and Itochu of Japan (35%), the result of the merger of Coastal States Energy Company with four coal mining companies in Utah, including Soldier Creek Coal Company; Sage Point Coal Company; Southern Utah Fuel Company; Skyline Coal Company; along with Coastal Development Company, and Utah Fuel Company. (Utah Division of Oil Gas and Mining, Permit C0070039; Dugout Canyon Mine)
"Effective December 20, 1996, Canyon Fuel Company, LLC was formed as a joint venture between ARCO Uinta Coal Company (65% ownership) and ITOCHU Coal International Inc. (35% ownership) for the purpose of acquiring certain Utah coal operations and an approximate 9% interest in Los Angeles Export Terminal, Inc. from Coastal Coal, Inc. and The Coastal Corporation." (Arch Coal, Inc., SEC Form 10K, dated March 2, 1999)
As mentioned above, Canyon Fuel was a joint company of Arco Coal and Itochu of Japan. Two years later, in 1998, Atlantic Richfield (Arco) sold its Arco Coal subsidiary to Arch Coal. In 2013 Arch Coal sold all of its coal properties in Utah to the newly created Bowie Resource Partners.
(Read more about all of the Canyon Fuel coal properties in Utah)
(The link includes the changes under its parent company, Arco Coal from 1996 to 1998, then under Arch Coal from 1998 to 2013)
During 2003, Canyon Fuel Company typically produced on average approximately 625,000 tons of coal a month from the Sufco Mine in Convulsion Canyon, located approximately 30 miles east of Salina, Utah. During normal operations, coal was loaded into trucks at the mine portal and transported directly to the Levan Loadout located on Union Pacific's Sharp Siding near Levan, Utah, or to the Salina Coal Yard, located on the southwest side of Salina, Utah. The Salina Coal Yard typically functioned as a surge pile for excess coal produced from the mine that was not required for immediate delivery to customers and as a stockpile from which customer's needs were met while the mine is not producing coal. The mine did not produce significant coal during normal shutdowns for equipment maintenance or a longwall move.
In early 2004, the longwall mining equipment encountered difficult geologic conditions and the mine was unable to produce sufficient coal quantity to fulfill the mines customers needs directly from the mine. Sufco began removing coal from the Salina Coal Yard to satisfy some of the contract needs while delaying delivery to others until the mine began to produce coal again. The Salina Coal Storage Yard was subject to a restrictive air quality limit on the number of truck movements, with the limit being 750,000 tons per month for coal being moved from the Salina Coal Storage Yard. These movements in early January 2004 exceeded those limits. Coal removal activities at the yard were immediately halted until a wavier was obtained that would allow the very temporary movements to continue while the geologic conditions affecting long wall machine in the mine could be addressed. The shutdown, which lasted about one month, was necessary to allow the long wall machine to be recovered and moved to a new location within the mine, after which coal production was resumed. The shutdown cost Canyon Fuel a bit over $1 million, with production during the shutdown of 159,700 tons, compared to the normal 625,000 tons.
These air quality limits due to the proximity of the storage yard within the limits of Salina City, as well as the air quality limits for trucks transporting coal the 76 miles to the Levan Coal Storage Yard, were later addressed by adding a new storage yard and surge pile that was located east of the mine, at a site located on Utah Route 10, about 5.5 miles south of the town of Emery, in Emery County. This new storage yard was used to serve customers east of the mine, and the Salina storage yard continued to be used to serve as a surge pile for coal being loaded into rail cars at Sharp Siding. In 2013, a new 8.3-mile paved road was completed between the mine, eastward by way of Quitchupah Creek Canyon to a junction with Utah Route 10, with the junction being at this updated coal storage yard. Prior to completion of the Quitchupah Creek Canyon road, the coal was moved to the new storage yard by way of Interstate 70.
Bowie Resource Partners, 2013
August 16, 2013
Bowie Resource Holdings completed its purchase of 100 percent interest of Canyon Fuel Company, a subsidiary of Arch Coal Company. The purchase included the Soldier Canyon mine, along with the Dugout Canyon mine, the Banning loadout, the Sufco mine, and the Gordon Creek mines (previously owned by Mountain Coal Company). The purchase agreement was first signed on June 27, 2013.
In 2018, Bowie Resources Partners was reorganized at Wolverine Fuels.
(Read more about Bowie Resource Partners and later, Wolverine Fuels)
In March 2018, Bowie requested a reduction of royalty lease payments being made on the coal being produced from the Sufco mine. The request was made because Bowie was facing "significant and adverse geological conditions" that was making coal extraction significantly more expensive. In November 2018, both the federal Bureau of Land Management, and the Utah Division of Oil Gas and Mining approved Bowie's request. The reduction was subject to BLM inspection every six months to determine the ongoing validity of Bowie's claim of economic hardship.
More Information
Sufco in 2003 -- Text of an online article at MiningTechnology.com, July 25, 2003
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