Mining Magazine > Panorama > Murray Energy begins longwall production

Following several months of renovations, American Equipment and Machine Inc. (AEMI) has announced the official opening of its new manufacturing facility in Centralia, Illinois on June 1, 2009. The new machine shop will rebuild and manufacture longwall mining equipment for use at parent company Murray Energy Corp’s coal mines.

Ohio-based Murray Energy is the largest independent coal producer in the US. Its operations include; the Galatia mining complex, the New Future mine and New Era mine, plus a number of underground and surface coal mines in Ohio, Kentucky and Utah. The mines produce a combined total of 28Mt/y.
 
The new equipment facility will allow Murray Energy to produce a proprietary longwall mining system, engineered to meet the exact specifications of its production processes. The company hopes to integrate the longwall system into all of its mining operations over the next five years.

The effort to develop an 'in-house' equipment operation was led by Billy Williams, a veteran longwall equipment manager who has worked with Murray Energy for 44 years.

Williams explained; “We have a very talented team of people, and we have spent many years finding solutions to the technical challenges of safe and productive mining operations. We realised that the most efficient way for us to operate would be to build the equipment ourselves, to our own specifications, and we could save money in the long run as well."

Murray Energy put its plan in to action in September 2008 and purchased the Centralia facility due to its central location in relation to the company’s mining operations and because it was well-suited to heavy equipment manufacturing.

The start up of the new facility has created more than 100 jobs and was welcomed by the local authorities. AEMI expects to add up to 34 additional jobs over the next two years as it ramps up to full production and expands into the manufacture of hydraulic components for its longwall systems. Long-term plans for the plant include manufacturing additional lines of mining equipment for use by Murray Energy and its subsidiaries.