Warrior Met Coal, based in Brookwood, has completed its $1 billion Blue Creek Mine development in Tuscaloosa County, which will add more than 300 jobs to the area.
The Blue Creek Mine is a single longwall mine expected to have the capacity to produce an average of 6 million short tons annually of metallurgical coal. This would increase Warrior Met’s annual capacity by about 75%.
The project also includes a rail load-out facility in Fayette County, a barge load-out facility in Walker County and a curved overland belt to deliver coal to the rail load-out facility. The belt reduces truck traffic and limits the impact on local communities, the company says.
“This transformational growth investment reinforces Warrior’s position as the premier U.S. pure-play producer of premium metallurgical coal products,” said Walt Scheller, CEO of Warrior. “From inception to completion, this project has been a collaborative effort with vendors, transportation partners, and state and federal agencies to ensure success for a project with an economic impact to rural Alabama for the next 40 years.”
