TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US steelmaking and steam coal producer Arch Coal on Tuesday announced that its Leer mine, in the Tygart Valley, in northern West Virginia, had started operating its longwall mining system, representing a significant milestone in the development of the mining complex.

The Leer mine was expected to ramp up production during the first quarter of 2014, and to produce more than three-million tons of metallurgical coal a year, which would be sold into domestic and international markets for use to make steel.

"With the start-up of the longwall, the Leer mine is poised to become a world-class supplier of metallurgical coal and a cornerstone of Arch's Appalachian operations for many years to come. We applaud the great work of the Leer team in completing this significant step, and we look forward to a safe, productive and profitable future for this important new mine,” Arch president and CEO John Eaves said.

Arch has invested more than $400-million to develop the Leer mine, which produces a high-quality, high-volatile ‘A’ coking coal product that would attract significant interest in world metallurgical markets.

With its 400-person workforce and efficient longwall system, the mine would benefit from a very competitive cost structure once it scales up to full production.

“With the addition of Leer, we are advancing our long-term, strategic objective of increasing our penetration into domestic and seaborne coking coal markets,” Eaves said.

West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin congratulated Arch on completing the longwall installation. "Coal continues to be an important foundation for the economic growth of our state and the nation's primary source of energy. Arch Coal's investment in the Mountain state not only strengthens our coal industry, but it helps create good paying jobs for hardworking West Virginians,” Tomblin said.

Arch now operates six metallurgical and pulverised coal injection-grade mines in Appalachia, including four in West Virginia. Arch also has significant undeveloped metallurgical coal reserves in the region that could support additional mine development in the years ahead.