ISO 9000-certified McClure River
preparation plant receives Industry Leader award at Coal Quality '05
conference
ABINGDON, Va., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alpha Natural
Resources, Inc. (NYSE:
ANR -
News), a leading Appalachian coal
producer, announces that one of its subsidiaries' coal preparation plants which
supplies metallurgical coal to the steel industry won the Industry Leader award
yesterday at the Coal Quality '05 conference in Huntington, West Virginia.
The award, sponsored by Coal Age magazine, was presented to the quality
control team of the Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, an Alpha subsidiary.
Dickenson-Russell operates the McClure River plant, which is in Cleveland,
Virginia.
Close to 90 percent of the coal processed by McClure River goes to coking
plants that serve U.S. and foreign steel producers. In 2004, all of the plant's
143 metallurgical rail shipments met or exceeded customer requirements for
quality. McClure River has been ISO 9000-certified since early 1999.
McClure River has a raw feed capacity of 1,100 tons per hour and plant
availability has averaged more than 97 percent this year. The quality system has
not received a quality non-conformance notice in more than five years from the
governing ISO 9000 registrar.
About Alpha Natural Resources
Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., is one of the leading producers of high-
quality Appalachian coal. Approximately 94 percent of the company's reserve base
is high Btu coal and 89 percent is low sulfur, qualities that are in high demand
among electric utilities which use steam coal. Alpha is also one of the nation's
largest producers and exporters of metallurgical coal, a key ingredient in steel
manufacturing. Alpha and its subsidiaries currently operate mining complexes in
four states, consisting of more than 60 mines feeding 11 coal preparation and
blending plants. The company and its subsidiaries employ approximately 2,800
people.
