American Resources builds up workforce at Perry County Resources mining complex

American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC), a supplier of raw materials, announced Monday that it is expanding the workforce at its Perry County Resources mining complex in Hazard, Kentucky. As it works toward restarting the PCR complex, American Resources is in the process of expanding the workforce there to roughly 76 underground mine and 16 preparation plant employees in the near-term, with a plan to grow to approximately 175 workers as the complex expands its production base. "We are truly excited to restart the Perry County complex and unveil it as one of the lowest cost, if not the lowest, PCI and stoker operations in the United States,” COO Tarlis Thompson said in a statement. “As we prepare to bring this first-class operation back online this quarter following our extensive restructuring efforts, we are confident that the efficient, low-cost structure at Perry County will be a long-term, stable provider of jobs to the local community.” READ: American Resources introduces new subsidiary American Rare Earth to extract metals in Kentucky American Resources consolidates and operates metallurgical carbon assets in the Central Appalachian basin (CAPP) to serve customers in the steelmaking, specialty alloy metals and industrial marketplaces. Its model and philosophy is to restructure existing, legacy operations to better fit the modern-day marketplace by eliminating legacy costs and liabilities to significantly increase the overall efficiency and profitability of its complexes.  Perry County Resources is one of the American Resources five operating complexes within the CAPP. Production at PCR, which was idled after the company acquired it for restructuring, has remained idle during the coronavirus pandemic, the company said. Beginning Monday, the company will begin the final underground development of installing seals to close off the mine's old works before restarting production. The installation of the seals will further reduce the E4-2 mine's operating cost and will make the mine significantly safer for its employees, the company said. When PCR is up and running again, American Resources will initially operate the complex's E4-2 underground mine with one super section. From there, the plan is to ramp the mine's production by utilizing two super sections and one bridge section.  This mining plan will ultimately utilize five of the E4-2 mine's current six continuous miners. The company will run two 8-to-10-hour shifts and one maintenance shift per pay, over 5.5 work days per week. Ultimately, the complex is expected to support approximately 175 long-term, stable jobs. Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel