El Segundo Mine, New Mexico

On either side of Highway 509, south of Whitehorse, is the El Segundo Coal Mine, operated by Peabody Energy. The mine is located directly on the Continental Divide. A haul road over the highway unites the two halves of the mine, and adds another layer to this undercutting and surmounting of the Divide. This mine covers 5,344 acres, and has around 270 employees. It is one of three mines operated by Peabody in the southwest (the company is more active in the midwest and in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, where it operates the largest coal mine in the nation). The coal leaves the mine by a dedicated railway, which crosses the Divide, south of the mine. The mine produces over five million tons of coal a year, which is shipped by rail to power plants in the Southwest, including the Escalante Generating Station, 20 miles south of the mine.