PITTSBURGH, PA — “Calling the uncertain future of Central Appalachian coal mining the ‘elephant in the room,’ industry consultant Alan Stagg said he expects mining in the high-cost region to cease in the next 10 to 20 years.
Speaking at Platts Coal Marketing Days on Sept. 21, Stagg said producers in Central Appalachia need to accept that difficult physical mining conditions, combined with inescapable regulatory restrictions, will soon erase profitability.
‘This is the elephant in the room. No one wants to acknowledge that reserve depletion is profound,’ said Stagg, president and CEO of Stagg Resource Consultants Inc. ‘Mining conditions are difficult, and the cost to produce is high. That is a physical fact. It’s not pleasant. Nobody wants to acknowledge it. That is a fact, and companies that ignore that fact will not do so well.’”
— Darren Epps, SNL
