1016 E. Owens Avenue
PO Box 2277
Bismarck, ND 58502
Phone: (701) 258-7117
Toll Free: 1-800-932-7117
Fax: (701) 258-2755
In early February, Lignite Council Director of Education and Marketing Retha Mattern, took the coal roadshow to classrooms at St. Mary’s Academy in Bismarck, ND. Two groups of middle schoolers got a hands-on lesson on the importance of coal mining and reclamation by playing in the dirt with the Cake Pan Mining exercise. During the activity, students form groups, complete a permit application, choose mining tools, separate topsoil and overburden, remove the coal and then reclaim their mines. Finally, the students complete an economic worksheet to determine profits or losses.