Alliance Resource Partners' Hamilton No. 1 longwall mine in southern Illinois ramped up to its 

projected  annual  run rate of 6 million to 7 million st of thermal coal by turning out 1.7 million 

st in the first quarter of 2017, a state mining official said Monday. 

Hamilton 1 was known as White Oak No. 1 before privately owned White Oak Resources was 

acquired by Alliance more than two years ago. 

The mine began ramping up in the fourth quarter of 2016, when its output reached 1.3 million 

st, according to Art Rice, an official at the Illinois Office of Mines and Minerals. 

"They're  mining a  longwall  the  way  a  longwall  should  be  mined,"  he said about Alliance. 

"They've upped their production and seem to be doing pretty good." 

Currently, Hamilton 1 is "finishing up that next panel," Rice added. 

Alliance  officials  could  not  be  reached  for  comment, but  in  the  company's  January  30 

conference call with analysts to discuss quarterly earnings, Joseph Craft III, Alliance presiden

t and CEO, noted that if his company could get Hamilton 1 up to its full capacity that Hamilton 

would be the company's lowest-cost mine. 

Hamilton had produced at the rate of about 500,000 st/quarter before the big ramp up started 

in November. 

Alliance  expects  to  produce  about  38.2  million st and sell about 38.5 million st in 2017, up 

several  million  short  tons  from  2016. The increased production at Hamilton 1 is one of the 

reasons for the higher production/sales forecast.