U.S. Coal Mines Are Opening in a Year of 'Cautious Optimism'
- Price rally is helping Appalachian miners recover from a bust
- Corsa has received hundreds of job applications for new mine
Coal miners in Pennsylvania on May 14, 2013.
Photographer: Ty Wright/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Add Corsa Coal Corp. to the short list of U.S. coal producers doing something that’s become a bit of a rarity these days: opening mines.
The Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based company will start a new operation in Pennsylvania as early as May. It joins Ramaco Resources Inc., which began producing at its first mine in West Virginia in December and plans to open two more this year in Central Appalachia. They’re among the few turning more bullish on the business following an unprecedented market collapse that has shut hundreds of mines and left thousands jobless in recent years.