Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based metallurgical coal producer Cobalt Coal Corp. (Cobalt) announced on May 27 that it has begun coal production at its Westchester Metallurgical Coal Mine in McDowell County, West Virginia, US.
The company statement said that the mine produces high quality, low volatile metallurgical coal that is used in the production of steel. Pointing out that the Westchester mine was not operational since Q2 2009, when the global recession hit metallurgical coal demand, the company said that steel production is now nearing the highs of 2008, and the demand for metallurgical coal has risen rapidly as a result. Cobalt received a new purchase order for coal in Q1 2010 and has since been working to put the Westchester mine back into production.
Cobalt president and CEO David M. Lewis stated, "The market for metallurgical coal remains very robust and, with coal production at Westchester managed by our first class operations team, we are very excited about the future of Cobalt."