The story of Alliance began in 1971 when MAPCO Inc., then a Fortune 500 diversified energy company, entered the coal-production business, acquiring the Dotiki mine.

This underground operation in Webster County, Kentucky, soon became - and remains to this day - one of the most productive coal mines in the country.

MAPCO Coal eventually owned and operated five mining complexes in three states — Kentucky, Illinois, and Maryland. It also owned and operated the Mt. Vernon Terminal Facility, a rail-to-barge loading terminal on the Ohio River.

In 1996, management formed Alliance Coal Corporation and led a buyout of MAPCO Inc.'s coal operations with the financial support of The Beacon Group. Within two years, Alliance acquired Hopkins County Coal, a surface/underground operation in Hopkins County, Kentucky, and developed MC Mining, an underground mine in Pike County, Kentucky. By 1998, Alliance sold 15.1 million tons of coal and was recognized as the sixth largest coal producer in the eastern United States.

During 1999, Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. was formed, and after completion of its initial public offering as the coal industry's first publicly traded master limited partnership, acquired the coal operations of Alliance Coal Corporation. The new company soon broke ground for a new underground mining complex in Gibson County, Indiana. Production began at Gibson County Coal the following year.

ARLP began a $30 million extension of its Pattiki mine in southern Illinois during 2000. Construction of a new mine shaft and ancillary facilities began in 2001 at the Dotiki mining complex. Both of these projects were completed during the second quarter of 2003 and positioned ARLP to meet increasing demand for its coal.

In February 2003, ARLP completed a secondary public offering. Proceeds from this offering were used in part to purchase Warrior Coal, LLC. Warrior operates an underground mining complex located near Madisonville, Kentucky, between and adjacent to our other western Kentucky operations. Warrior has since become one of the most productive mines in the state of Kentucky.

Since that time, Alliance has experienced substantial growth. Alliance acquired reserves and opened River View in 2009. River View is now the largest underground continuous mining operation in the United States.

Alliance opened Tunnel Ridge in West Virginia in 2010, and Gibson South in Indiana began production in April of 2014.

In July 2015, we acquired the remaining equity interest in White Oak Resources LLC, thereby gaining complete ownership and control of what is now the Hamilton County Coal, LLC in Illinois.

We have reserves in strategic locations that have positioned Alliance to meet the nation's energy needs well into the future.

For more information on our Mines and Facilities, click here.