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CONSOL Energy Sells Metallurgical Coal Mine in Virginia

The buyer is an entity called Coronado IV LLC, and the transaction is being funded by investment firm The Energy & Minerals Group, which is based in Texas.

The deal includes CONSOL’s Buchanan Mine in Virginia, its idled Amonate Mine in southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia and greenfield reserves in southwestern Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. All told, the sale gives Coronado approximately 400 million additional tons of proved coal reserves. That figure includes 88 million tons associated with the Buchanan Mine. 

"This is another significant event in the execution of CONSOL Energy's strategy, as well as a meaningful step in continuing to strengthen our balance sheet," said CONSOL president and chief executive officer Nicholas J. DeIuliis in a statement.

"The Buchanan Mine fits into Coronado's portfolio as a pure play metallurgical coal producer, and, in the end, this transaction bolsters the strategic position of both companies," he said.  

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper, the Buchanan Mine has yielded more than 100 million tons of coal since it opened in 1983.

A CONSOL spokesman said the company still has some legacy coking coal reserves remaining in its portfolio of assets, but none of those are in production.