The study, which covered the years 2000 and 2001, found that in addition to US$422 million in wages paid to employees, the company purchased goods and services from more than 580 businesses located in western Pennsylvania, including 149 companies with which the company spent more than US$100,000 annually.

The study showed that Consol spent more than US$623 million with those 149 companies during the past two years. In addition, the company purchased more than US$83 million in electricity and natural gas from local utilities during the two-year period.

"This study demonstrates the often overlooked benefit of the mining to western Pennsylvania," said Thomas F. Hoffman, Vice President of Investor & Public Relations. "Mines are huge consumers of goods and services. The business done with area companies represents a enormous economic engine for western Pennsylvania."

The company also looked at the economic impact in the tri-state area of western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio. Employee wages plus sums spent on goods and services with companies located in the tri-state area totaled more than US$1.5 billion for the 2000-2001 period.

"Mining and the infrastructure that supports mining are true wealth- creating activities," Hoffman said. "Literally, tens of thousands of people in our region owe their own prosperity in part to the presence of active coal mines."

Hoffman said modern underground coal mines also represent a huge capital investment in the area. He said a new longwall mine in the Pittsburgh seam in western Pennsylvania would require an investment of $250 million to $350 million dollars. "Our 35 million tons of production capacity in Pennsylvania would represent a capital investment of about $1.75 billion in today's dollars."

"What is most surprising, is the diversity of companies with which we do business," Hoffman added. "Of course, there are a lot of heavy machinery-type companies, but we run the gamut from machine shops to janitorial services to auto dealers. We even did nearly a half-million dollars of business with a shoe company in Blair County."

"There are approximately 270 licensed coal operators in Pennsylvania," Hoffman noted. "Each of these companies, like CONSOL Energy, spends money on wages and the infrastructure to support its activities. And like us, each company is spending much of that money close to home."