Blankenship said Tuesday at Massey's annual meeting that he feels the reserves held by the producer "will prove to be more valuable than those of any other North American coal company" thanks to 20 years working under its "Position to Win" strategy that has included increased reserve shares.
“We have nearly tripled our reserve base [and] our reserve share has increased from less than 7 percent, when this management team began to lead the company, to nearly 38 percent today," he said.
He said the company was "very excited" about the year because the benefits of its focused strategy were in the initial steps of being realised.
“As we roll out our expansion and increase production, the opportunities will only be getting better," Blankenship said.
Looking forward, Massey anticipated its position in the industry to keep moving in a positive direction.
“If the current trends continue, Massey is on track to be in control of more than two-thirds of the remaining Central Appalachian coal reserves in just 10 years," Blankenship noted, adding that the producer currently controls or owns more than 2 billion tons of reserves in the Central Appalachian region, 800 million tons of which are of metallurgical quality.
Massey also elected three directors to three-year terms on its board of directors: Blankenship, General Robert Foglesong and Admiral Bobby Inman.
The company said last month that it was taking advantage of the strengthening coal market by earmarking an additional $US90 million in capital spending this year for the expansion of its Central Appalachian operations for a total investment of about $310 million.
Blankenship said at the time of the announcement that Massey wished to optimise value and had also increased price per ton estimates for its metallurgical coal from original 2008 estimates of $54–56 per ton.
“We now expect our average price realisation to be in the range of $61 to $63 per ton in 2008," he said.
“The extremely strong metallurgical coal market is the primary driver of our average price increase and is putting us on a path for another record-breaking year."
