October 27, 2026 - Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP) forecasts Mettiki production will rise about 550,000 tons in 2027 from 2026 under a new multiyear supply agreement that Craft said will allow nearly 150 miners to return to production.

Joseph W. Craft III, the partnership’s chairman, president and CEO, described the agreement as being with the mine’s largest historical customer. He said it “will allow the mine and nearly 150 miners to return to coal production operations.”

The Mountain View Mine is near Tucker County, West Virginia. The plan calls for replacing longwall mining with two room-and-pillar sections and moving both to a two-shift schedule by the close of the first quarter of 2027.

In January, ARLP said it would cease Mettiki production immediately after outages at a key customer’s plant reduced demand and shipments. Existing commitments were expected to be met mainly from inventory through March 2026. Mettiki had about 1.2 million tons in coal sales and production during 2025, including 300,000 tons shipped to the export metallurgical market.

ARLP’s 2026 coal sales forecast is 34.5 million to 35.5 million short tons for the year ending Dec. 31. The partnership also projected a total coal sales price of $54.25 to $54.75 per ton and coal segment adjusted EBITDA expense of $37.50 to $38.50 per ton. It had 31.7 million tons committed and priced for 2027: 28.7 million domestic tons and 3 million export tons.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, ARLP sold 9.348 million tons at an average of $53.93 per ton. Coal segment adjusted EBITDA expense was $35.64 per ton. Those figures were part of the partnership’s third-quarter update.