MINING
About
Stony Creek Mine
 

The Stony Creek Mine, operated by Leonardite Products, is located in Williams County, North Dakota.

The legal description of our mine location is:

T. 154 N., R. 100 W., 5th P.M. North Dakota

      Sec. 8: NE1/4, S 1/2NW1/4, N1/2 SW 1/4





Employing selective mining leonardite is surface mined in two-to-three-acre sections to the total depth of twenty feet. The leonardite is found in three layers between two layers of clay. Professional excavators remove and pile the top soil, subsoil and overburden separately.

Employees of Leonardite Products use a front end loader to remove the clay stringers and mine the leonardite. The leonardite is carried by dump truck to the processing plant approximately three miles from the mine. Generally mined between March and October, mined leonardite is stored in a stock pile on the processing plant grounds.

The ND Mine Permit, issued by the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC), is GRGR-0501. The PSC inspects our mine monthly and our records quarterly.

This is a Federal Mine #26-1460596
The Federal Lease is NDM 065329

The BLM division based out of Billings, MT inspects our mine quarterly.
The MSHA Mine ID # is 32-00652.

The MSHA name for the mine is Leonardite Products Mine and Mill. MSHA inspects our operation twice per year.

Leonardite is 40 to 50 percent moisture in the ground. It will sun dry in the stockpile yet is dried to remove moisture (water), making it easier to package and handle. Processing also cleans out natural impurities found in a mined product. Leonardite Products has two separate systems to dry and size leonardite.
Primary
Processing
 

Leonardite is dried and sized in a processing plant using a natural gas air heater regulated to a maximum temperature of 145º Fahrenheit (62.7º Celsius) for agricultural grade material. Sizing is accomplished with a Williams hammer mill and spinner separator. The material is packaged directly from this system. No other materials enter or are processed on this equipment. An extensive upgrade in 2019 included a new air heater, spinner separator, PLC system and relocated the electrical room.

This equipment is used to process Source X® and LenOX®. No other materials enter or are processed on this equipment. No processing aids or additives, including but not limited to grinding aids or dust suppressants, are ever used when mining, processing or packaging Source X® or LenOX®.