Coal is still, very much, a part of Kentucky’s energy future. And especially in northwest Kentucky.
Thursday morning, Governor Andy Beshear announced new job creation in Henderson County, where River View Coal LLC will expand its operations of an underground coal mine in Union County.
The footprint expansion will result in more than 250 well-paying jobs and a $35 million investment, and Beshear noted the move comes with the “increasing demand” for energy.
Corporate leadership for River View Coal have OK’ed the construction of a new 30,000-square-foot facility on a 56-acre tract in Henderson County, with work on it set to begin April 2023 and completed by December 2024.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Alliance Coal LLC, River View began its coal production in 2009 — and it’s now the largest underground room-and-pillar mine of its nature in North America. An existing operation includes an onsite preparation plant that can produce more than 2,700 tons of raw coal per hour.
At its current status, River View Coal employs more than 780 people in Kentucky. By the time this expansion goes live, that total will be more than 1,000.
Alliance Coal, owned by Joe Craft, also operates sister mines in Eastern and Western Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia.
Missy Vanderpool, Henderson Economic Development’s executive director, writes the investment and job creation will have an estimated annual impact of nearly $300 million.
