SAPPHIRE COAL COMPANY
147 Big Blue Boulevard
Whitesburg, KY 41858
606-633-0175 - Tel • 606-633-0746 - Fax

Sapphire Coal Company has more than 300 employees and ships more than 2 million clean tons of coal a year.

With operations located in Letcher and Knott counties in Kentucky, the company’s primary focus is the production of high Btu steam coal from the traditional eastern Kentucky strata, including the Hazard, Amburgy, Elkhorn and Whitesburg seams in both underground and surface operations.

Sapphire’s operations include three underground mines – UZ II mine, Sandlick II mine and Advantage mine. Surface coal operations at Sapphire’s Buck Creek mine produce a lower sulfur product, which optimizes Sapphire’s coal blend for traditional utility customers. Sapphire’s 1,100-ton-per-hour preparation plant has been upgraded and is one of the largest and most efficient operations of its kind in eastern Kentucky. The plant is on the same site as the high-speed, four-hour unit train loadout served by the CSX line. 
       
New capital improvements have been made at all of the company’s active mining operations, including the purchase of state-of-the-art underground and surface mining equipment. Sapphire continues to expand its coal reserves and seek opportunities to develop new mines.

In 2004, United Coal Company, Sapphire’s parent company, acquired the former assets of Golden Oak Mining and Cook & Sons Mining in Letcher County and renamed the operation Sapphire Coal Company.