Lynn Branch No. 2 Coal Mine
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Lynn Branch No. 2 Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Holden, Logan County, West Virginia, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Mine Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Lynn Branch No. 2 Coal Mine | Holden, Logan County, West Virginia, United States[1] | 37.771729, -81.931004 (approximate) |
The map below shows the approximate location of the coal mine:
Project Details
Table 2: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Opening Year | Closing Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating[1] | – | 2019[1] | – |
Table 3: Operation details
| Capacity (Mtpa) | Production (Mtpa) | Year of Production | Mine Type | Mining Method | Mine Size (km2) | Mine Depth (m) | Workforce Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | 1.14[2] | 2025[2] | Underground[3] | Bord and Pillar[3] | – | 373.0* | 180.0[2] |
Table 4: Coal resources and destination
| Total Reserves (Mt) | Year of Total Reserves Recorded | Total Resources (Mt) | Coalfield | Coal Type | Coal Grade | Primary Consumer/ Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14.0[4] | 2024[4] | 41.0[4] | Appalachia | Bituminous[1] | Met[4] | – |
Table 5: Ownership and parent company
| Owner | Parent Company | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Aracoma Coal Company LLC[1] | Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc [100.0%] | USA |
Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)
| ROM or Saleable | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROM[1] | – | – | – | 0.04[1] | 1.03[1] | 1.44[1] | 1.25[1] | – | 1.14[2] |
Reported Methane Emissions Data
Global Energy Monitor collates facility-scale methane emissions data reported by government and company sources collected in a systematic fashion. This mine is associated with the following methane emissions reports:
Table 7: Methane emissions
| Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CO2 equivalent) | Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes CH4) | Year of Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions | Reported Coal Mine Methane Emissions (thousand tonnes) Reference | Reference type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.823 | 68.309 | 2023 | [5] | national government data |
Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker May 2026 release.
Ownership Tree
This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
Background
Lynn Branch coal mine is an underground mine, operated by Contura Energy in Lynn Branch, Logan County, West Virginia, United States.[6]
The mine began operation in 2020. In May 2019, Contura Energy's board of directors approved a $25 million to $30 million project for a metallurgical coal mine in Lynn Branch, Logan County, West Virginia. The proposed mine was estimated to have 25 million tons in reserves, and to produce 1 to 1.2 million tons in its full capacity.[6] The mine's construction began in the third quarter of 2019, with the expectation that production would start in the third quarter of 2020. Contura's 2020 8-k report revised the expected production as 0.9-1.2 million tons.[7]
In 2020, production began at the Lynn Branch coal mine.
In February 2021, Contura changed its name to Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. The company was known as Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. until 2016 when it was restructured as Contura following a bankruptcy. The mine is expected to operate for 26 years, or until 2046. As of December 2020, Lynn Branch had 23 million short tons in reserves, divided as 12 million short tons proven and 10 million short tons probable. As of 2021, Alpha Natural Resources listed a Lynn Branch Coal Company as a subsidiary[8]
As of June 2021, Alpha Natural Resources's subsidiary Aracoma Coal Company held an underground mine permit for Lynn Branch #2 mine.[9]
In the first quarter of 2021, the mine had 98 employees.[10]
- MSHA id: : 4609575[10]
- Operator: : Aracoma Coal Company, LLC[10]
- Owner:
- Parent company: Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc.
- Location: Lynn Branch, Logan County, West Virginia, United States
- GPS coordinates: 37.771729, -81.931004
- Mine status: Operating
- Start year: 2020
- Production: 0.9-1.2 million tons per year
- Total reserves: 23,228 thousand short tons [8]
- Proven reserves: 12,298 thousand short tons [8]
- Total reserves: 10,930 thousand short tons [8]
- Mine type: Underground
- Employees: 98[10]
- Coal type: Bituminous (met coal)[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 https://web.archive.org/web/20240717193400/https://www.msha.gov/data-and-reports/mine-data-retrieval-system. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 https://www.msha.gov/data-and-reports/statistics/mine-employment-and-coal-production.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 (PDF) https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001704715/b7c2a924-c78a-41f9-b57e-bbaae65ab7c8.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1704715/000170471525000010/finalaracomatsasof12-31x.htm.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://data.epa.gov/efservice/ghg/SUBPART%20FF%20-%20UNDERGROUND%20COAL%20MINES/FF_SUMMARY_SOURCE/CSV/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 Contura Green Lights Lynn Branch Projects, Coal Age, May 23, 2019
- ↑ Contura Energy Inc. (February 10, 2020) Form 8-K . United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Report.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (March 15, 2021) Form 10-K . United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Report.
- ↑ (June 1, 2021) Underground Mine Permits Open As Of 6/1/2021 . West Virginia Office of Miner's Health Safety and Training. Report.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 U.S. department of labor, MSHA, Mine Data Retrieval System, accessed June 23 2021
Coal Mine Boundaries and Methane Sources
Global Energy Monitor researchers have identified coal mine boundary/boundaries and potential sources of coal mine methane (CMM) for this mine. These research results can be used to drive CMM attribution and mitigation efforts, particularly when combined with remotely sensed methane plume locations and mine ownership data. Explore the results with the embedded map at the top of this page by clicking on the mine boundary polygon or the CMM placemarkers to reveal more details. A detailed description of this research can be found in Coal Mine Boundaries and Methane Sources. This data is also available as a downloadable companion dataset to the Global Coal Mine Tracker and the Global Methane Emitters Tracker.
Table SMP1: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data
| ID | Mine feature category | Mine feature subcategory | Description | Coordinates precision | Data source date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1617.B1 | mine boundary | underground | Lynn Branch No. 2 mine detailed underground mining area boundary | extracted | Unclear - according to https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/coal/cbmp/coalims.html, "Updates to the data set occur as new data becomes available."' |
| M1617.P1 | ventilation system | shaft | ventilation shaft | extracted | 2023-11-01 00:00:00 |
| M1617.P2 | other | slope access or production shaft | possible coal mine production shaft | extracted | 2023-11-01 00:00:00 |
Table SMP2: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data (continued)
| ID | Notes |
|---|---|
| M1617.B1 | The boundary is the underground mining area polygon extracted from the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey (WVGES) resource at https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://atlas.wvgs.wvnet.edu/arcgis/rest/services/Coal_Web_Mercator/All_Mining_WM/MapServer. This resource was filtered for mine_name = LYNN BRANCH NO 2 MINE, and the resulting polygon was simplified using distance-based simplification with a tolerance of 25m. The area of this boundary is 1 sq km. The mine mines the Number 2 Gas seam.
Important note: the following mine boundaries overlap the mine boundary and care should be taken when attempting methane source attribution: SUPERIOR POCA NO 2 (Number 6 Block seam), BELVA NO 5F (Coalburg seam), NO. 8-C MINE (Eagle seam) |
| M1617.P1 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M1617.P2 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
Articles and Resources
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
