Silver Spade to be idled after 40 years
By ROBERT A. DEFRANK
News-Herald Staff Writer
THE SILVER spade is retiring after a 40-year career in Harrison County according to Consolidated Coal, owner of the shovel.
Tom Hoffman, vice president of external affairs, said the shovel would most likely be retired during the winter, after its current mining project is complete. The age of the shovel has made it less cost-effective to continue its use.
"They don't make replacement parts. It's frankly at the end of its useful life. Even the folks who know how to work on it are retiring," he said. "It's time to retire.
"I doubt that the spade will ever run again as an operating piece of equipment," he said, adding that they are looking into options of where it will go and how to move it from the pit.
Hoffman added that the durability of the shovel has proved impressive. It was dedicated Nov 25-26 in 1965, making it exactly 40 years old.
"It's hard to think of many pieces of equipment that keep going on and on, given the heavy use of the equipment," he said.
Hoffman added that the company has yet to decide the Silver Spade's fate, though locals have been making inquiries about the shovel.
"We're certainly aware of the interest of the community. We'll see what options we have for that machine," Hoffman said.
The Silver Spade may have a home waiting for it after retirement. The Harrison Coal and Reclamation Historical Park, based in New Athens, was formed by an organization dedicated to commemorating the county's coal-mining history. They have been gathering and maintaining such equipment for the purpose of tourism. If donated, the Silver Spade would be their centerpiece.
"That was our main goal in forming the park. We'd like to acquire and preserve it," said Claren Blackburn, member of the park's committee. "There is hardly anything else like it around."
The group has been hoping to acquire the shovel since 1992. Currently, they are in the process of obtaining a 7200 Marion walking dragline donated by the James Brothers Coal Company of Magnolia Ohio.
The Silver Spade is a strip shovel utilized to remove layers of rock in order to get at the coal. The shovel has a 200-foot boom and a 105 cubic yard bucket. It was originally one of three such shovels, the Mountaineer and the Gem of Egypt, which had since been scrapped.
"The other two big ones are gone," said Blackburn. "Almost all the companies, they scrap them. The only other one not scrapped is Big Brutus out in Kansas."
"We'll continue to contact Consol and continue to see what channels we can open," said Blackburn.
She added that Big Brutus has been converted into an exhibition and pays for itself in terms of admissions, donations, membership and sales. The Historical Park is hoping for similar results.
"We're aiming for self-sufficiency," she said. "We would like to see it continue to generate money," she said. "There would be nothing else like in this part of the country.
"We would love to preserve this. It also honors mining history and the miners," Blackburn said. "Harrison, Jefferson and Belmont were the leading coal producers for years. It's nice to be able to preserve something."
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Consol to lay off 47, idle 'Spade'
By MICHAEL SCHULER, Times Leader Staff Writer
Consolidation Coal Co., a subsidiary of CONSOL Energy Inc., announced Wednesday it has issued a notice of layoff to 47 employees at its Mahoning Valley Mine, located near Cadiz, while also ending the use of the giant stripping shovel "The Silver Spade."
The company made the announcement in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act also known as the WARN act.
It is anticipated the date of separation for the affected employees will occur during a 14-day period beginning Jan. 16, 2006.
The United Mine Workers of America, sub-district 6, could not be reached for comment.
While the Silver Spade will be shut down, the company did report that the Mahoning Valley Mine will continue to be in operation and will produce coal with an auger. In addition, certain reclamation activities will be done at the site.
According to the coal company, the layoff is due to the increased maintenance costs for the equipment at the surface mine, especially for "The Silver Spade," a giant earth moving steam shovel built in 1965 by the Bucyrus-Erie Company.
"The shovel has reached the end of its useful life," the company said in a press release. "Replacement parts are difficult to obtain and ongoing maintenance costs for the shovel have increased to the point where it is no longer economic to operate."
Over the past several years, a group has been attempting to save the "Spade," which weighs approximately 14 million pounds and is more than 200 feet high, from the fate of several other large steam shovels like "The Gem of Egypt" that was sold for scrap after it was dismantled in the early 1990s.
Supporters of the piece of mining equipment had mounted a "Save Our Spade" movement in an attempt to get the giant shovel and to preserve it at the Harrison County Mine and Reclamation Park.
"That is our ultimate goal," said Marilyn Monzula with the reclamation park. "We already have sent Consol notice that we want The Silver Spade. We're just waiting for a reply."
According to Monzula, the group hopes the addition of the shovel to its collection will help to attract more tourism and preserve the last of the "big shovels" for history.
"The purpose of starting (the park) was to have the Silver Spade as the focal point of our museum," she said. "We're just waiting anxiously to find out if we will get it. It would really make it fulfilling."
(//http://www.stripmine.org/images/boom.jpg)