Historic Ohio coal spade scrapped

CADIZ, Ohio – CONSOL Energy’s last and largest super excavating shovel left in the world, the Silver Spade, has been scrapped.
The Harrison Coal and Reclamation Historical Park Inc., friends and supporters were not able to raise the $2.5 million requested by CONSOL to purchase the spade and do the required reclamation surrounding it.
When the spade broke down in the middle of April last year, it had not made it up out of the pit.
After all considerations, CONSOL Energy asked for $2.5 million dollars to purchase the shovel.
This included the salvage value of approximately $700,000 – $1.6 million to do the specialized reclamation surrounding the spade, plus other costs.
So close. The historical park had raised nearly one-third of the amount in the form of cash donations, pledges and the promise of a loan against the spade, but the group could not raise the remainder of the money.
This piece of coal heritage will now join other relics like it: the Mountaineer, the GEM of Egypt, the Big Muskee and other super machines of the past, as a memory of what man’s ingenuity could create.
Had the project been successful, the spade would have belonged to Harrison County.
Pieces and parts. CONSOL Energy has donated components of the Silver Spade, such as a bucket, hand and foot controls from the cab and pieces of the electric cable.
It is the goal of the Harrison Coal and Reclamation Historical Park to build a Surface Mining Center to display other machinery, and to reassemble a Marion 7200 dragline.
Membership. To join the organization and help build the Surface Mining Center, dues are $10 per individual per year; $15 for a family membership; and $50 for businesses or corporations.
Lifetime memberships are $200 for a single member; $250 for a family; and $500 for businesses or corporations.
For further information, contact Claren Blackburn at 740-937-2460; the Cadiz Visitor Center at 740-942-1102; or visit www.hcrhp.org.