CONSOL Energy & Arch Resources To Merge

CONSOL Energy and Arch Resources, in a conference call with investors Wednesday morning, announced plans to merge, creating an energy company valued at more than five-billion-dollars. The new company will be called Core Natural Resources, and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under a new ticker symbol that the companies have not yet disclosed, Once the merger is complete, the new company will own eleven mines across six states that produce thermal and metallurgical coal that will be used for heat generation at power plants and in steel-making. Core Natural Resources will be headquartered in Canonsburg, at their Southpointe location, while still maintaining a presence in St. Louis, where Arch is based.  The use of coal in the United States has fallen almost every year since 2005 as energy plants switch over to natural gas and that has led to mine closures and job cuts across the sector.  Coal companies that have survived need to lower costs and that can be achieved both through new technology, and mergers like the one announced by CONSOL and Arch.