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Valley Camp - White Oak Coal Mine

This page was last updated on March 17, 2025.

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Overview

The Valley Camp coal mine was opened in 1975, as a subsidiary of Quaker State Oil company. In 1993 the mine was sold to the White Oak Mining & Construction company, which operated the mine until it was sold to Lodestar Energy, Inc., in 1999. The mine was still known as the White Oak mine. Mining activity ended in 2001 after the known reserves were mined out. Coal shipments continued until 2003, shipping from stockpiles at the surface facilities.

Reclamation of the mine site began in late 2004, and was completed in November 2005.

Valley Camp of Utah (later White Oak)

The Valley Camp coal leases included what was known as the O'Connor Block, which included the original O'Connor mine in Boardinghouse Canyon, across the ridge south from Eccles Canyon. The coal being mined was situated between the O'Connor Fault on the east, and the Connelville Fault on the west. The two faults were approximately one mile apart.

By the end of its life in the 1940s, the Winter Quarters mine had taken, by room and pillar methods, large sections of coal extending from its main entrance on the south side of Winter Quarters Canyon, south to its "south fan cutout" on the north slope of Eccles Canyon. When the Valley Camp company was developing its Belina No. 1 mine, it was in a side canyon on the south side of Eccles Canyon, across from the Winter Quarters south fan cutout, but in the same coal seam. The coal taken by the Winter Quarters mine was entirely west of the Connelville Fault.

The original federal coal lease for what later became Valley Camp's Belina No. 1 mine was on March 1, 1958, to Emmett K. Olson. On April 24, 1962, the lease was assigned to Malcolm N. McKinnon. This assignment was approved by the BLM on July 20, 1962.

Twelve years later, on May 10, 1974, Mr. McKinnon assigned the lease to Oak Creek Development. On August 1, 1974, Oak Creek, with Mr. McKinnon's approval, assigned all its rights to Routt County Development. Routt County, on September 15, 1975, subleased a part of the property, known as the O'Connor block, to Energy Fuels. Energy Fuels, on November 5, 1975, assigned its interest in the O'Connor block to Valley Camp.

On August 2, 1978, Routt County, successor to Energy Fuels, assigned what was known as the adjacent Connelville Block to Coastal States. As a result, Valley Camp and Coastal States became co-operators of both blocks of the original McKinnon, with Valley Camp operating the Belina mine on the O'Connor block and Coastal States operating the Skyline mine on the remainder of the property known as the Connelville block. During this entire 16 year period, no mining activity had taken place.

Development work on the Belina No. 1 mine by Valley Camp of Utah, began in September 1975. The mine complex was located in Boardinghouse canyon, about two miles west of Clear Creek, and about 2.4 miles south of Eccles canyon, where the Skyline loadout is located. The Belina mine was in what was known as the O'Connor block of the McKinnon Lease. The adjacent Connelsville Block of the same McKinnon Lease was north of the O'Connor block on the west side of the Connelville Fault, and was developed by Coastal States Energy as the Skyline mine. Operation of the Belina No. 1 mine began in 1979, with full production starting in 1981.

Valley Camp's Belina No. 2 mine was opened in 1982.

The mines and loadout were operated by Valley Camp of Utah, Inc., a subsidiary of Valley Camp Coal Company, itself a subsidiary of Quaker State Corporation. Valley Camp Coal Company also had coal mines in the Wheeling and Moundsville areas of West Virginia's panhandle, and in the the Charleston area. (Quaker State SEC Form 10-K, fiscal year ending December 31, 1993, dated March 23, 1994; Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, June 21, 1979)

The first seam of the new Belina No. 1 mine was to be mined by the fall of 1976, the second seam in the fall of 1977.

June 27, 1973
"Valley Camp completes coal purchase -- The Valley Camp Coal Company completed its purchase of the Utah properties formerly owned by The North American Coal Corporation on June 27. It was announced by Herbert S. Richey, president of Valley Camp, the properties are located near Castle Gate, Clear Creek and Kenilworth and consist of coal reserves and mines which have been inactive for the past year." (Helper Journal, July 5, 1973)

May 1974
Construction of the Valley Camp mine began in May, with three employees and a supervisor. Two shifts of miners would be needed when mining started in July. (Helper Journal, June 13, 1974)

July 3, 1975
"Valley Camp will open the O'Connor mine, about one-half mile northwest of Clear Creek in Boardinghouse Canyon and the mine at the top of Eccles Canyon. Prepatory clean-up work at the O'Connor mine will begin this month. Valley Camp also this month will open a third section in its mine between Scofield and Clear Creek. Coal from Valley Camp's property comes from the O'Conner seam, which extends from Scofield to the south end of Clear Creek. The seam consists of an upper and lower level. In Boardinghouse Canyon three feet of rock separates two 23-foot seams. The seam at the mine between Scofield and Gear Creek is about 9 feet high." (Sun Advocate, July 3, 1975)

October 24, 1975
The Valley Camp Cal company submitted its plans to the federal Office of Area Mining, within the U.S. Geologic Survey. An environmental analysis wwas to be prepared, and the USGS asked for comments from the Utah Office of Natural Resources. (Documents on file with Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, Coal File 0070001)

December 17, 1975
Valley Camp announced plans for a second mine, to be located close to its existing mine. The new mine was to produce one million tons of coal per year when full capacity was reached in August 1977. A new rail car loading facility was also to be constructed. Work was to begin in June 1976, with production to be started in October 1976. (Helper Journal, December 17, 1975)

January 28, 1976
"Kanawha and Hocking Coal and Coke Company, a West Virginia corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Valley Camp Coal Company, has applied for a competitive lease sale of 160 acres of federal coal land." "The surface is in private ownership. The tracts are proposed to be mined through Valley Camp's Utah #2 mine. The mining is underground and no new surface facilities are planned." (Helper Journal, January 28, 1976)

February 1976
Valley Camp Coal Co. completed a rail car loading facility at its Utah No. 2 mine, replacing a more expensive truck haulage system. By April 1976, the mine had reached an annual production of 500,000 tons. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 20, 1976)

Valley Camp's Belina No. 2 mine was on the east side of the canyon, across the canyon from today's Alpine school district camp, about one mile north of the Skyline mine's loadout. According to a mine map of the Belina No. 2, the "old Utah mine", was also on the east side of the creek and railroad branch line, a few hundred feet south of the No. 2 mine.

The Valley Camp loadout received coal directly by conveyor from the No. 2 mine. Coal from the No. 1 mine was trucked about four miles from the mine at the top, south end of the Whiskey Canyon branch of Eccles Canyon.

The loadout was known by the D&RGW railroad as Val-Cam, and was located north of the town of Clear Creek. Railroad service was provided during the 1970s, including the shipment of coal to UP&L's Gadsby plant in Salt Lake City, and to the Reid Gardner Plant at Moapa, Nevada.

March 3, 1976
Valley Camp of Utah, Inc., applied for a coal mining permit for Belina Mine No. 1, using the room and pillar method, using continuous mining sections with shuttle cars and conveyor belt haulage. Elevation was 9,032 feet, and the coal would be taken from the O'Connor Upper Seam, which was 14.5 feet thick. (Documents on file with Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, Coal File 0070001)

March 3, 1976
The following comes from the March 3, 1976 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper:

September 1, 1976
"Valley Camp Coal Co. started work on a second mine in Carbon County, expected to increase the company's annual production to about 1.5 million tons per year. Unit train shipments of coal will be made from its Carbon County properties to Nevada Power Co.'s electric generating plant at Moapa, Nev. The schedule calls for shipment of 40 to 50 carloads each week." (Deseret News, September 1, 1976)

July 1982
"Valley Camp of Utah, Inc., laid off 30 percent of its work force (101 mine workers and office personnel) at its mine near Scofield, following termination of its lease with a Japanese company." (Utah Mineral Industry Activity Review 1981-1982, published by Utah Geological and Mineral Survey, Circular 72, May 1984, page 14)

May 14, 1987
UP&L announced it would shut down the two remaining units of the Gadsby power plant due to reduced demand for electricity in its service area, as well as concerns about burning oil and coal in an urban area. "Gadsby will be idled when its coal stockpile is depleted in about six weeks." (Salt Lake Tribune, May 14, 1987)

With the loss of its major customer, the Valley Camp mine in Carbon County, in May 1987 laid off most of its workers, with coal shipments to Gadsby ending with the announcement. Coal shipments continued to the Carbon plant at Castle Gate due to lower transportation costs.

In March 1989, Valley Camp placed its mine in Utah on standby status following an out-of-court settlement with Utah Power & Light, concerning coal shipments to UP&L's Carbon Generating Plant north of Price, Utah. Valley Camp was charging $40 per ton of coal, which UP&L thought was much too high, compared to coal from its own Deer Creek, Wilberg, and Cottonwood mines, which was priced at $21 per ton. The contract between Valley Camp and UP&L was what was called "take or pay," meaning that UP&L could not take the coal, but was still liable to pay for it. The settlement was for the fee that UP&L paid to terminate the contract, which called for the delivery of 450,000 tons per year. The result was that UP&L was free to obtain its coal from other sources, but also that the Valley Camp was shut down due to lack of coal shipments. (Deseret News, March 15, 1989)

The Valley Camp mine was idle until July 1989 when a contract was completed between Valley Camp and Intermountain Power Agency to furnish 450,000 tons for the one-year period starting July 1, 1989. (Deseret News, July 7, 1989)

On June 30, 1992, Valley Camp's Belina No. 1 mine was placed on standby status pending new contracts. Since 1989, Valley Camp of Utah had produced an average of 544,000 tons per year, which was 17 percent of the national total of 3.2 million tons per year for its parent company, Valley Camp Coal Company, a subsidiary of Quaker State Corporation. (Valley Camp news release dated July 2, 1992)

November 17, 1992
Quaker State announced that it would sell its interest in Valley Camp of Utah and its Belina mine. (New York Times, November 18, 1992, "yesterday")

White Oak, 1993

On September 13, 1993, the Belina mines were sold to White Oak Mining & Construction Co. for $3,175,000. (Quaker State SEC Form 10-K, fiscal year ending December 31, 1993, dated March 23, 1994)

In November 1992, Quaker State announced that it would sell the Valley Camp mine, the last of the coal mining properties owned by the oil company. The mines were transferred to White Oak Mining & Construction Co., Inc. in 1994.

On January 1, 1995, White Oak signed a ten-year contract with Tennessee Valley Authority to furnish 1.5 million tons per year to TVA's Allen Plant near Memphis, Tennessee. Although there had been numerous cases of spot-market sales, this was the first time in ten years that Utah coal had started to flow to electric utilities in the East on a long term basis. A similar ten-year was also signed between TVA and Genwal to furnish 500,000 tons per year. (Utah Coal Report, 1995, page 24)

(Read more about the Genwal mine, located in Crandall Canyon and owned by Andalex Resources)

In July 1999, Loadstar Energy, Inc., part of the Renco Group, purchased the White Oak mine, and the Horizon mine of Horizon Coal Corporation, in Gordon Creek Canyon. (Energy, Mineral, and Ground-water Resources of Carbon and Emery Counties, Utah, Utah Geological Survey Bulletin 132, 2003, page 48)

July 16, 1999
Lodestar Energy, Inc., acquired the assets of White Oak Mining and Construction company, including the White Oak coal mine, which had been idle since the second quarter of 1999. At the same time Lodestar acquired the Horizon mine in Gordon Creek canyon. (Lodestar Energy press release dated July 19, 1999)

Mining was done with two radio control continuous mining machines, and average production was 5000 tons per day.

"The Valley Camp Loadout was several miles to the north of the existing Skyline loadout. It is just east opposite of the Alpine School District Camp (green roofed buildings). You should be able to see it in Google Earth. You can see where the switch and loading track splits off to the west parallel to the main line track. Note the old cuts that have been reclaimed on the hillside to the east of the tracks." (Wess Sorensen, General Manager, Canyon Fuel Co., Bowie Resource Partners, email dated November 19, 2013)

White Oak No. 1 and No. 2 were closed in 2001 after the mine's coal reserves had been exhausted. The surface coal was shipped out beginning in October 2001, and continued through February 2003, when the entire mining complex was closed.

Lodestar Energy declared bankruptcy in 2001. Work by the bankruptcy trustee to stabilize the site of the mining complex began in the fall of 2003. Lodestar Energy, Inc. settled with the State of Utah for the costs of reclamation in August 2004. Reclamation work started in late 2004, and was completed in November 2005. Additional reclamation work started in 2010.

More Information

Doeling, "Central Utah Coal Fields"

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