Moonrise in coal country

The moon rises over a coal silo at the Dry Fork Mine just north of Gillette.

The Dry Fork Mine feeds coal to the neighboring Dry Fork Station, which began operation in 2011. The mine also supplies coal to plants in North Dakota, Texas and central Wyoming, according to the management company Western Fuels Association’s website.

Platts Analytics reports that Powder River Basin coal saw an increase in production of 2 percent during the first full week of September, but remains down 25 percent from the year before. Still, in town people point hopefully to the uptick in activity as a good sign for the local economy.