Brookwood Mine

The Brookwood Mine is a series of underground metallurgical coal mines accessing the Blue Creek Seam near Brookwood. The vertical shaft mines were developed beginning in 1972 by Jim Walter Resources, which became a division of Walter Industries in 1987 and is currently part of Walter Energy. The active mine operations are currently at the No. 4, No. 7 East and No. 7 West mines.

The coal is extracted using longwall and continuous mining techniques, operating from 1,400 to 2,100 feet below ground. Walters' "Blue Creek Coal" is marketed as delivering "high coking strength with low coking pressure, low sulfur and low-to-medium ash content with high Btu values". It is shipped by barge down the Black Warrior River from its own loading facility at Port Birmingham.

The Brookwood No. 5 mine was the site of a fatal accident on September 23, 2001. Methane gas released in a cave-in fueled two large explosions, killing thirteen workers.

A depressed market for metallurgical coal caused Walter Energy to lay off as many as 907 workers from its No. 4 and No. 7 mines in 2015 as the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

External links

• Coal operations at walterenergy.com