February 23, 2017 - Late last year, Rosebud Mining Co. announced plans to open its Cresson Mine, which had been mothballed because of a slide in the need for coal.

This past week, Corsa Coal Corp. said it will tap a new deep mine, with production beginning several months from now.

The Acosta Deep Mine will bring another 70 jobs to Somerset County and will churn out about 400,000 tons of metallurgical coal a year.

"We are just now starting to hire," said Corsa CEO George Dethlefsen.

If peak performance is reached, the new mine could add another 30 workers on top of the 70 it is set to hire.

Dethlefsen also said the firm is looking to boost production at its Castleman and Queekcreek sites.

It's not been said if the announcement is tied to President Donald Trump's campaign promise to reinvigorate the coal industry, but it is good news for the region's workforce, tax base and economy -- immediately and in years to come.

Coal mining has cleaned up its act in the past decades, mostly because of the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations to make the industry friendly to the ecology.

It's encouraging to hear that mining companies can work with the EPA's rules to extract coal from deep within the earth while still being able to make a profit.