Produced tons sold in the first quarter of 2010 totaled 8.5 million compared to 10.8 million in the first quarter of 2009. Metallurgical coal shipments were 2.4 million tons in the quarter, up 33 percent year over year.
"Following a difficult winter and tough operating conditions in January and February, we shipped over one million tons of metallurgical coal in the month of March," said Massey's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship. "With our plans to mitigate most of the lost production at the Upper Big Branch mine, we believe the first quarter's metallurgical coal volume is approximately in line with our capabilities in the second half of 2010."