Affinity Mine

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Affinity Mine is a coal mining operation near Sophia in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The mine was closed in 1985 but bought in 2010 by United Coal Company, which cited rising demand for metallurgical coal. United Coal planned to spend $115 million to rehabilitate the former Eastern Associated Coal company mine. The mine is operated by Affinity Coal Co., and is opened in 2010. Company officials believe the mine has enough reserves to produce coal for about 25 years. United Coal is a division of Ukraine-based Metinvest.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the mine.

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Background

The mine started operations in 2010 when United Coal Company(UCC) launched a subsidiary, Affinity Coal Company, in Raleigh county W. Virginia. UCC re-opened the mine which was idled in the 1980s, and built a new preparation plant on site with the purpose of producing metallurgical coal. The UCC's parent company, Ukraine based METINVEST, also owns a group of steel companies.

In 2019, the mine produced 0.9 million tonnes although the production dropped to 0.7 million in 2020.

224 workers are employed in the facility as of 2020.

Mine Data

• MSHA ID: 4608878
• Start Year: 2010
• Operator: Affinity Coal Co.
• Controller: United Coal Company
• Parent Company: METINVEST
• Total Reserves: 34 million tonnes
• County: Raleigh
• State: WV
• Latitude: 37.703959
• Longitude:-81.230477
• Production (short tons): 0.77 million tonnes
• Coal Type: Bituminous
• Mining Method:
• Mine Status: Operating
• Average No. of Employees: 220

Articles and resources

Related GEM.wiki articles

• West Virginia and coal
• U.S. coal politics
• Coal and jobs in the United States
• Coal phase-out
• Headquarters of U.S. coal mining companies
• Global list of coal mining companies and agencies
• Proposed coal mines
• Existing U.S. Coal Plants
• Coal

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External links

• "Major U.S. Coal Mines," Energy Information Administration