Alabama-based Warrior Met reported that longwall operations commenced during October at the Blue Creek mine, eight months ahead of schedule and on budget. Commissioning toward full production is expected to be completed in early 2026.
The company also completed the installation of the Blue Creek overland clean coal belt, along with the remaining modules of the prep plant in October and made significant progress on the barge loadout. All-in-all, the company invested another $64.2 million in Blue Creek during Q3 2025.
At the same time, Warrior Met achieved record quarterly sales volumes of 2.4 million tons of steelmaking coal, including 378,000 tons from the Blue Creek mine. For Q3 2025, Warrior Met reported a 27% increase in total sales volumes and a 17% increase in total production volumes compared to the prior year’s comparable quarter, which it attributed primarily to the Blue Creek mine.
“The early startup of Blue Creek’s longwall significantly increases our production capacity and has already begun contributing to revenue and free cash flow. As a result of our success on this project, we have raised our full-year production volume guidance by 10%, further reinforcing Warrior’s position as the premier U.S. pure-play producer of premium steelmaking metallurgical coal,” said Walt Scheller, CEO of Warrior Met.
At the end of Q3 2025, Warrior said it also learned that it was the successful bidder in a federal coal lease sale administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The acquisition includes approximately 14,050 acres in Tuscaloosa County, with an estimated 58 million tons of high-quality metallurgical coal reserves. The total bid for the leases was $46.8 million.
The company said that the purchase of these leases will enable it to enhance its long-term growth strategy, bolstering its reserve base and extending the life of core mining operations. The newly leased areas are adjacent to existing infrastructure, allowing for efficient integration into Warrior’s current operations and capital planning.
“While several regulatory and administrative steps remain before Warrior enters into a lease agreement with the BLM, we are actively engaged with the relevant agencies to ensure timely progress and compliance with all requirements,” Scheller said. “The combination of this acquisition, once it closes, and the continued ramping up of production at Blue Creek positions us to continue to meet sustained global demand for premium steelmaking coal.”
Source: www.coalage.com
