Sunrise Coal was founded in 2002 by Ron and Steve Laswell. In 2006, Hallador Energy (HNRG-NASDAQ) purchased a portion of the Sunrise mine in Carlisle, Indiana and eventually became the parent company of Sunrise Coal. The principals of Hallador and Sunrise Coal have been mining coal in the Indiana and Illinois area for over 40 years.

Currently Sunrise Coal operates one underground mine in Carlisle, Indiana which ships about 3 million tons of coal per year. Learn more about Sunrise Coal

Sunrise sells to utility customers mainly in the mid-west and southeastern US regions. Customers have included Indianapolis Power & Light, Hoosier Energy, Duke Energy, NIPSCO and Santee Cooper, Richmond Power and Light.

Sunrise is currently developing plans for additional mines to serve new customers.

The vast majority of Sunrise coal is shipped by rail. Sunrise is connected to the CSX mainline and the Indiana Railroad has running rights into Carlisle.

Compared to other Illinois Basin coal products, Sunrise produces coal with high BTUs and very low chlorine levels, less than 1% with high ash fusion temperatures. The twin heavy media wash plants that are on-site guarantee quality specifications are consistently met.

Sunrise Coal is dedicated to safety and operational efficiency. According to the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration's tons-per-man-hour data, Sunrise coal has one of the highest efficiently ranking among all underground mines in the Illinois Basin. Sunrise has the staff expertise to develop the mine operations on its own and is therefore more efficient when it comes to capital development, maintenance and operational processes. In 2010, Sunrise parent company, Hallador Energy was rated one of Forbes Magazine's Top 100 Most Trustworthy Companies.

Sunrise Coal's mine in Carlisle, Indiana employs over 300 people to run the mine. About a one-third of which run the surface operations and two-thirds are underground. The hourly salaries run from $18 - $26 per hour, depending upon position and experience. These jobs are long-term as a typical mine will run for 15 – 30 years.

For leasing information, contact Sunrise Coal at 812.299.2800.

Room and Pillar is among the safest, most ecologically friendly ways to mine coal. In the room and pillar approach only about 50% of the coal is mined and the remaining coal is left as large "pillars" about 40 feet wide to support the surface and structure of the mine roof. This approach is designed to be safe for the miners and leave the surface area undisturbed. Click here for an overview of room and pillar mining.

Learn more about Underground mining at Sunrise Coal

Sunrise Coal is dedicated to miner safety and proves that by carefully implementing the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regulations, but also goes beyond that to proactively educate employees for a safe working environment.

Each miner is required 40 hours of training before working in a mine and must complete several annual courses. In addition to that, Sunrise Coal has developed an innovative program to encourage miners to learn the MSHA Federal Safety Code to be proactive about safety. The company has pledged $350,000 in personal cash incentives for the miners who take and pass these tests.

Learn more about Safety at Sunrise Coal

No. A big misconception in underground mining is that the mine uses hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to wash coal and then discharges dirty water into local streams. That is not true. In reality, the washing process is a closed loop system. By law, a coal mine cannot disturb the water supply in the area of the mine and this is monitored by three different sources.

Prior to the development of a new mine, the law requires a coal company to create monitoring wells which will both benchmark the pre-mine water level and quality, and will help monitor to ensure the local water supply is not affected by the water needs of the mine.

A mine will have its own water source that includes captured rain water, recycled water and a designated well or pumped source.

Modern day underground mining is very different than what most people think – no mules, no canaries. The equipment and approach is high tech and built for safety underground and on the surface.

View a video about modern day underground mining at Sunrise Coal

Additionally reclamation legislation requires that after a mine is closed that the land is reclaimed and return it to a pre-mined state, or the facilities are sold to another business. Specific taxes and bonds are collected in a mine area to assist with reclamation if a mine company is unable to reclaim the land itself.