The company showed significant earnings in each of the first three quarters and, paired with a healthy state of the industry in general, made a couple of moves that left them well positioned to continue financial success well into the future.

During the year, Massey began evaluating the feasibility of reopening the Kepler mine in West Virginia, a move that would add as much as 1Mt to production levels in the coming year. In April, Massey sold Kentucky’s Big Elk Mining, which it acquired in a bankruptcy auction only six months earlier, recording a pre-tax gain of $US34 million.

In June, hoping to repeat its success with the Big Elk deal, Massey announced the purchase of Kentucky-based Great Western Coal from bankruptcy proceedings for a net of approximately $US3 million.

Massey’s first quarter revenues were up 31% and earnings topped $US50 million, and its second quarter showed a continued upward trend with earnings of $US37 million. Third quarter results were also positive, showing a 15% revenue increase and earnings of $US22 million, but as these numbers fell below analysts estimates. Massey’s stock price fell from a high of $US57 per share in September to a current price of $US39.45.

Just as sales and acquisitions and positive revenues continued throughout the year, so did Massey’s legal and political skirmishes. Earlier in the year, contractors working at Massey’s Shannon Pocahontas subsidiary caused a methane explosion in a sealed flooded mine shaft. The US Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) subsequently cited both Massey and the contractor for various violations that lead to the incident. Massey is currently appealing the citation.

In April, a multimillion-dollar suit was filed against the company by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel for breach of a long-term coal supply contract, causing Wheeling-Pitt to lose $US11 million by forcing them to buy coal elsewhere at higher prices. One month later, another breach of contract suit was brought by Coaltrade of Kentucky.

The West Virginia DEP ordered the destruction of a coal silo at Massey’s Goals Coal facility for being too close to an elementary school. Mid-year, the DEP granted and then later rescinded a permit for the construction of a second silo amid questions about the maps the company had submitted to the agency. The company contested the demolition order and launched a local ad campaign to bolster its public image in light of recent protests.

In August, Massey announced it would exit the West Virginia Coal Association (WVCA), the second time chair Don Blankenship had done so in a half-decade, citing a disagreement with the Association’s stance to back Governor Joe Manchin’s plan to fund state pensions with a US56c/t tax and a $US5.5 billion bond issuance. Massey then filed suits against the UMWA, local media outlet and a West Virginia political advocacy group claiming defamation for an election-year ad campaign that painted an unflattering picture of the company.