Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following:

	December 31,
	2018		2017
Plant and Equipment	$	2,890,970	$	2,757,062
Coal Properties and Surface Lands	858,153		857,031
Airshafts	419,100		392,266
Mine Development	342,405		344,139
Advance Mining Royalties	327,543		325,855
Total Property, Plant and Equipment	4,838,171		4,676,353
Less: Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization	2,731,643		2,554,056
Total Property, Plant and Equipment, Net	$	2,106,528	$	2,122,297

Coal reserves are controlled either through fee ownership or by lease. The duration of the leases vary; however, the lease terms are generally extended automatically to the exhaustion of economically recoverable reserves, as long as active mining continues. Coal interests held by lease provide the same rights as fee ownership for mineral extraction and are legally considered real property interests.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, property, plant and equipment includes gross assets under capital lease of $49,775 and $3,559, respectively. Accumulated amortization for capital leases was $15,973 and $2,839 at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Amortization expense for assets under capital leases approximated $13,148 and $424 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and is included in Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income. See Note 13–Leases for further discussion of capital leases.