January 15, 2026 - Sempertrans was recently selected to provide what it says is a groundbreaking conveyor belt solution for Warrior Met Coal’s Blue Creek Mining Project in Alabama. This state-of-the-art longwall mine is expected to be among the lowest cost producers in the world, with a highly efficient facility and an anticipated annual production capacity of approximately 6 million short tons of premium hard coking coal.

The project involved the provision of the strongest conveyor belt in North America, and significantly, the strongest conveyor belt ever produced by Sempertrans to date, addressing critical high-tension requirements within this high-volume slope belt application. The conveyor itself was delivered by BEUMER Group.

Warrior is a large-scale, low-cost producer and exporter of premium quality metcoal, also known as hard-coking coal (HCC), operating highly efficient longwall operations in its underground mines based in Alabama. The HCC that Warrior produces from the Blue Creek coal seam contains very low sulphur and has strong coking properties. The premium nature of Warrior’s HCC makes it ideally suited as a base feed coal for steelmakers.

The miner needed a conveyor belt that could endure extreme slope tension and throughput; operate under long-term, high-capacity loads; reduce downtime, carryback, and spillage; plus meet strict MSHA fire-resistance standards. Sempertrans delivered a custom Sempercord™ ST7500 belt and deployed a 5-stage splice design tested and proved prior to installation, plus provided certified splice supervision.

The belt was built to handle increased tension and throughput, designed for both current and future operational demands of a high-capacity mine. Sempertrans states: “The high-quality design contributes to improvements in overall availability and throughput, supporting the Blue Creek project’s goal of being a low-cost, state-of-the-art operation. Expected benefits include lifetime improvements, leading to reduced maintenance and replacement costs. Other anticipated improvements include less carryback, reduced spillage, minimised mistracking, less wear, and enhanced safety within the conveyor operations.”

It adds that the project exemplified a high-quality design achieved through strong partnerships between the end-user, an engineering company, and Sempertrans, including collaboration with ICR for the sale and installation of the belt by Sempertrans qualified splicers. “This project pushed the limits of conveyor belt engineering – and Sempertrans delivered. From custom splice design to the strongest belt we’ve ever produced, our team worked hand-in-hand with Warrior Met to set a new benchmark for performance, safety, and reliability in North American mining.”