American Resources adds two continuous miners at Perry County Resources complex in Kentucky

American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) announced Tuesday that it signed a contract to acquire two additional continuous miners for its Perry County Resources mining complex in Hazard, Kentucky. The company acquired the complex in September and since then it has undergone a significant restructuring. American Resources said it anticipates restarting the complex within the next 30 days and the two additional continuous miners brings its total to six as it restarts and ramps up production. "We are truly excited to restart the Perry County complex and unveil it as one of the lowest cost, if not the lowest, PCI [pulverized coal injection] and stoker operations in the United States,” CEO Mark Jensen said in a statement. “We applaud our team for the tremendous achievements made over the last several months to reduce over $45 million of costs and implement our strategic plan moving forward.” READ: American Resources says JTC Team to continue as its investor relations and corporate communications advisor Over the next year, American Resources plans to have five continuous miners in operation with two super sections and one bridge section, which the company believes will allow the mine to scale with maximum efficiency. “Since acquiring it out of bankruptcy, we have invested a significant amount of time and resources into the complex to return it back into an efficient and productive operation,” Jensen said. “Now with six continuous miners, up from the one continuous miner that was operational when we acquired PCR, we feel we are in a really good position to ramp up the complex very efficiently and look forward to doing so in the near future." Ultimately, the company is expecting to achieve production of 1 million tons of carbon per year to be shipped on the PCI, semi-soft metallurgical carbon and specialty stoker markets. Production at PCR has been idle during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure a safe working environment, the company said. With its restart, American Resources expects the complex to support approximately 140 long-term, sustainable jobs for the community. American Resources has established itself as a long-term supplier of metallurgical carbon to the global steel markets. It is committed to being one of the lowest-cost operators in the Central Appalachian basin and throughout all its carbon mining, processing, and transportation operations. With operations in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, the Indiana-based company extracts, processes, and sells metallurgical carbon to the steel industry. Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel