Animations A Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA story
Mining
The coal mines in the PRB advance quickly enough to see a lot of change from year to year. Two animations available here show the annual change of the mines in the regions.
The first animation shows almost one image per year back to 1984 of both the Black Thunder and North Antelope Rochelle Complex Mines. The second one listed is a close-up of the North Antelope Rochelle Complex and covers the same time period.
The date of each image appears in the lower right corner.
Location
June 29, 1984, Landsat 5 (path/row 34/30) — North Antelope Rochelle Complex Mines, Wyoming, USA
Sep. 20, 2014, Landsat 8 (path/row 34/30) — North Antelope Rochelle Complex Mines, Wyoming, USA
Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA Additional Imagery & Stories
Black Thunder Mine
The Black Thunder Mine, shown in the series of Landsat images on the left, has sent 2.2 billion tons of coal to U.S. power plants since 1977. It produ...
North Antelope Rochelle Complex Mines
The North Antelope Rochelle Complex is the most productive of the PRB mines. In 2018, the mine sold 98.4 million tons of coal. In 2017, it accounted f...
Oil
The PRB has become about more than just coal. Oil production is also increasing. Similar to the Bakken Formation in North Dakota, new technologies are...
The Mining Process
The mining process that takes place in the PRB is called surface mining. First, the topsoil is removed. The material above the coal (overburden in min...