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Am totally stoked about going to Alabama to mine their wonderful coal. Alabama doesn't have as much coal as the coal-giant states such as Illinois, Montana, Wyoming, and West Virginia, but 85% of Alabama's coal, according to what I have read, is metallurgical grade by today's U.S. standards, which are very high standards. This means Alabama probably has the highest quality coal in the country, at least insofar as coal deposits are known (Alaska remains terribly unexplored).
The history of coal mining is Alabama is a trip. It's fucking brutal, as bad as in Colorado and West Virginia during the old "Coal Wars" of the late 1800s and early 1900s. I guess that's why so many Alabama mines are unionized still today.
I'll join the union but will never use the protections as an excuse for laziness. I am there to mine, not laze about. I am there to do what I love. I like union protections because, basically, I am committing to the company -- almost marrying it -- and I want some commitment back. For me, my loyalty is a two-way street, and when I give it, I want to receive something in return: loyalty from the other party.
Alabama's mines are deep, over 2000 feet, which is in fact very deep for North American coal mines. The coals are MVA and HVA, i.e. Medium Volatility A and High Volatility A, respectfully, which are excellent grades for coking coals. The coals are energy dense and have great caking ability, i.e. the ability to swell when heated, evaporate the volatile matter, and then leave behind a hard, porous gray coke that become fuel for making steel.
Alabama ships coal to dozens of countries for steel production, and the state stands firmly behind its coal industry, even the small percentage of miners there that produce steam coal for the abundant Alabama coal-fired power plants. Politically, Alabama is like the West Virginia of the Deep South: committed to coal mining and to using coal-fired power.
