Arch Coal Begins Longwall Operations at New Leer Mine in West Virginia

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Arch Coal Incorporated (NYSE:ACI) (St. Louis, Missouri) has started longwall mining operations at the new Leer underground coal mine near Grafton, West Virginia. Production will ramp up over the first quarter of 2014 to an annual production of about 3 million tons per year. The mine will produce metallurgical coal, mainly for the domestic and international steel production markets.

The project was formerly known as the Tygart No. 1 Coal Mine. Industrial Info first reported on it during a scoping study in 2005. Since that time, the total investment value of the project has doubled to nearly $400 million.

Construction began on the project in 2010, and the preparation plant and rail loadout facilities were completed last year. Currently, continuous miners are developing the first stage of the mine in anticipation of the start-up of the Longwall mining system, which is now being installed. The majority of the mine's 360-plus employees were relocated from the company's other mining operations in West Virginia and Maryland.

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