Warrior Met Coal, Inc. celebrated the completion of the Blue Creek mine project, a world-class longwall mine located in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Warrior invested approximately $1 billion to develop the Blue Creek mine, which will add more than 300 new jobs to the area. Company executives were joined by state and local elected officials, federal delegation staff, Bureau of Land Management leadership and industry partners to celebrate the project.
The Blue Creek mine is a single longwall mine and is expected to have the capacity to produce an average of 6.0 million short tons annually of metallurgical (met) coal over the first ten years of production. This will increase Warrior’s annual nameplate capacity by approximately 75% and provide access to one of the largest untouched metallurgical coal reserves in North America. Blue Creek is one of the last remaining large-scale, untapped met coal reserves in the U.S., and is expected to have a mine life of over 40 years.
“This transformational growth investment reinforces Warrior’s position as the premier U.S. pure-play producer of premium metallurgical coal products,” commented Walt Scheller, CEO of Warrior. “From inception to completion, this project has been a collaborative effort with vendors, transportation partners and state and federal agencies to ensure success for a project with an economic impact to rural Alabama for the next 40 years.”
“This investment by Warrior has created jobs, economic growth, and sustainability in our rural communities,” said Senator Matt Woods. “I am happy to represent the largest coal-producing district in Alabama.”
In addition to Warrior’s investment, substantial commitments from other stakeholders across the state are supporting the growth of the Blue Creek project and related developments in Alabama. Norfolk Southern is investing over $200 million in its 3B Corridor. The Alabama Port Authority is also investing over $200 million to modernize and improve efficiency at its McDuffie Coal Terminal, supported by an additional $20 million in funding from the Alabama Legislature. Further enhancing logistics capacity, Parker Towing Company, Inc. has invested over $20 million in capital equipment to ensure efficient barge transportation.
Source: www.coalage.com
