ORGANIZATION AND PRESENTATION (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 ARLP	Dec. 31, 2012 ARLP	Dec. 31, 2011 ARLP	Dec. 31, 2013 ARLP SGP	Dec. 31, 2013 MGP	Dec. 31, 2013 Intermediate Partnership SGP	Dec. 31, 2013 Alliance Coal	May 15, 2006 IPO Concurrent Transactions ARLP	May 15, 2006 IPO Concurrent Transactions MGP	Apr. 26, 2007 IPO Concurrent Transactions Alliance Coal	May 15, 2006 IPO Concurrent Transactions Alliance Coal	May 15, 2006 Limited Partners' Capital	Dec. 31, 2013 Limited Partners' Capital	Dec. 31, 2012 Limited Partners' Capital	Dec. 31, 2011 Limited Partners' Capital	Apr. 02, 2011 Limited Partners' Capital Secondary Public Offering	May 15, 2006 Limited Partners' Capital IPO Concurrent Transactions AMH II	May 15, 2006 Limited Partners' Capital IPO Concurrent Transactions SGP	May 15, 2006 Limited Partners' Capital IPO Concurrent Transactions AMH
Ownership interests
Subsidiaries holding percentage								100.00%		0.001%		100.00%	0.001%	0.001%
Ownership percentage by noncontrolling owners							0.01%		0.01%
Ownership percentage by limited partners	100.00%
Partnership units sold by related parties																			2,750,000
Price per partnership unit sold by related parties																			$ 54.21
Partnership units sold															12,500,000				0
Price per partnership unit sold															$ 25.00
Units distributed to affiliates																				19,858,362	20,641,168	6,863,470
Units owned by parent				15,544,169							15,550,628
Contributions from affiliates for general and administrative expenses	$ 2,200,000	$ 2,000,000	$ 5,000,000	$ 2,200,000	$ 2,000,000	$ 5,000,000										$ 2,200,000	$ 2,000,000	$ 5,000,000
Managing general partner of the subsidiary													MGP	AHGP
Proceeds from secondary public offering																			$ 0