Alpha Natural Resource to Open $23 Million World Class Mine Training Facility

Alpha Natural Resources Regional Headquarters at Julian in Boone County, WV

Alpha Natural Resources will hold a public dedication of their new Running Right Leadership Academy at Julian in Boone County, on Thursday, June 20. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the company’s regional headquarters right off Corridor G (U.S. 119).

The 136,000 square foot facility, the first of its kind, will be a world-class center for mine safety and training and development. The projected cost for the five-building complex is $23 million.

“We are really excited about the leadership academy,” said Alpha Resources CEO Kevin Crutchfield. “We hope to give people exposure to underground mining before they ever go underground. We will be able to simulate fire, smoke, give people the experience of learning the process, as opposed to putting them underground as a red hat with an experienced miner so they will be more up to speed than they would be otherwise.”

The facility is to include a mine lab of approximately 96,000 feet where simulated mine situations and conditions can be presented to certified supervisors and examiners to solve and correct, facilities and equipment for electrical and maintenance skills training, and facilities and equipment for supervisory leadership skills training.

Crutchfield added: “We feel the new facility can serve all kinds of purposes, whether it’s basic education, training, welding, all types of things. We believe we will have a fantastic facility that will be state of the art.”

The mine training academy will be open to other mining companies and is expected to start operations sometime this summer or fall.

Alpha Natural Resources is Boone County’s leading employer and is involved in many great area projects where they give back resources to their community,” said Larry Lodato, director of the Boone County Community and Economic Development Office.