Published: September 23, 2021 |

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Plans are moving forward with a project to open a metallurgical coal mine and prep plant in Wyoming County.

CONSOL Energy first announced in 2019 plans to open a mine just outside of Mullens by 2021. The project was delayed because of the pandemic but is now moving forward, according to an email from a representative from the company.

The coal mine, along with a prep plant, is expected to be fully open by 2022, employing up to 150 people.

Mullens Commissioner Nathan England says he’s optimistic these jobs will help local families stay closer to home.

“There’s men furloughed from the railroad, there’s people having to drive one and two hours to work and then they see well there’s going to be work right here again,” said Mullens Commissioner Nathan England.

“A Wyoming countian in general is just survivors. We get by on what we have but a little help every now and then is a great thing,” added England.

England has lived in the area most of his life. Over the years, he’s seen families suffer and move away as the jobs in mining and the railroad decline.

“You can see the trend of (coal jobs) going down, and I can understand the impact that it’s had on the environment, but it’s still a big deal here. We’ll have to have it in order to survive,” said England.

Some people have been working to welcome visitors brought by the Hatfield and McCoy ATV Trail system by purchasing and renovating houses and opening businesses.

“We’re trying to capitalize on other things we have here, such as the trail system. It’s getting much bigger,” said England.

“The more people that come in, the more people can see that there are business opportunities here. Because there’s a lot of travel in town nowadays, just because of the trail,” added England.

The Coalfields Expressway was completed to Mullens in 2020. England says the new road, along with more ATV traffic and CONSOL Energy’s plans for the region have put morale at an all-time high.

The mine is expected to produce 900,000 tons of metallurgical coal per year. Met coal is a key component in steel-making.

Source: WV Public Broadcasting

About CONSOL Energy
CONSOL Energy Inc. is a Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based producer and exporter of high-Btu bituminous thermal coal and metallurgical coal. It owns and operates some of the most productive longwall mining operations in the Northern Appalachian Basin and is developing a new metallurgical coal mine (the Itmann project) in the Central Appalachian Basin. CONSOL’s flagship operation is the Pennsylvania Mining Complex, which has the capacity to produce approximately 28.5 million tons of coal per year and is comprised of 3 large-scale underground mines: Bailey, Enlow Fork, and Harvey. The company also owns and operates the CONSOL Marine Terminal, which is located in the port of Baltimore and has a throughput capacity of approximately 15 million tons per year. In addition to the ~658 million reserve tons associated with the Pennsylvania Mining Complex and the ~21 million reserve tons associated with the Itmann project, the company also controls approximately 1.5 billion tons of greenfield thermal and metallurgical coal reserves located in the major coal-producing basins of the eastern United States.

To stop by CONSOL’s website, CLICK HERE

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