According to local news stations WSAZ and WYMT former Sidney Coal vice president and High Ridge Mining owner Bill Smith, a longtime coal operator, is planning the openings with each mine set to have 36 employees at start-up.

The operations, dotting Pike County near Big Creek, Johns Creek and Pond Creek, are the culmination of Smith’s plan put into motion previously through the leasing of 100 million tons of coal in the Alma, Pond Creek and Cedar Grove seams.

The permit processes for the mines are also underway as part of that plan.

“We plan on mining a million tons a year,” Smith said.

“The first train is loaded, I’ve put my heart and soul into this venture and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to offer jobs to the best miners in the world.”

Smith said a majority of the output from the mines would be exported to China.

“Every time our coal industry hits rock bottom, it’s not the big national companies that bring it back, it’s the local companies,” Pike County energy and community development director Charles Carlton said.

“Smith had a vision a few years back and it is paying off here in 2013, [he] is taking advantage of the need for coal in foreign markets.

“This won’t be the last we hear about our coal being exported to Asia and Europe because the market for our coal is no longer domestic. Washington has killed our domestic market.”

County judge-executive Wayne Rutherford told the station that Smith was “ahead of the curve” by creating a tie between Kentucky and the Asian and European markets.

“Coal has become out of fashion domestically due to unnecessary intense restrictions and regulations imposed on the coal industry by the federal government,” he said.

“The short-term economic outlook for coal seems dismal but due to the growth taking place in Asia, coal is needed to sustain it, making the long-term outlook for eastern Kentucky coal rather bright.”

While no timeline for production starts was disclosed, the hiring process is to begin soon through the Pikeville Office of Employment and Training.

Check back with ILN for more on High Ridge Mining’s plans as details become available.