Dakota Coal Company controls rights to lignite reserves in North Dakota and provides financing for the Freedom Mine north of Beulah, North Dakota. Dakota Coal is also responsible for marketing Freedom Mine lignite production. The Freedom Mine is owned and operated by The Coteau Properties Company, a subsidiary of the North American Coal Corporation, Dallas, Texas.

Dakota Coal's customers include Basin Electric's Antelope Valley Station, near Beulah; the Leland Olds Station, near Stanton, North Dakota; and Dakota Gasification Company's Great Plains Synfuels Plant, adjacent to Antelope Valley Station.

Dakota Coal and The Coteau Properties Co. work closely with their customers to ensure lignite quality doesn't hamper daily plant operations. Customers know the quality of every shipment of lignite coal before they receive it. This information helps them handle their fuel to meet production and emissions goals.

Dakota Coal also has a division, Wyoming Lime Producers, and a subsidiary, Montana Limestone Company.

The Freedom Mine

The Freedom Mine is owned and operated by The Coteau Properties Company. The Freedom Mine delivers approximately 16 million tons of coal per year, making it the largest lignite mine in the United States in deliveries.

The Freedom Mine uses three Bucyrus-Erie 2570 draglines for overburden removal and reclaims about 600 acres of land annually.

North American Coal Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of NACCO Industries, Inc. based in Cleveland, OH. NACCO Industries, Inc. is a holding company with three principal businesses: NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. (lift trucks), NACCO Housewares Group (housewares) and The North American Coal Corporation (mining).