PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following:

	March 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Plant and Equipment	$	2,922,041	$	2,890,970
Coal Properties and Surface Lands	858,153		858,153
Airshafts	428,387		419,100
Mine Development	342,489		342,405
Advance Mining Royalties	327,660		327,543
Total Property, Plant and Equipment	4,878,730		4,838,171
Less: Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization	2,778,448		2,731,643
Total Property, Plant and Equipment, Net	$	2,100,282	$	2,106,528

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 March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, property, plant and equipment includes gross assets under finance leases of $49,865 and $49,775, respectively. Accumulated amortization for finance leases was $19,700 and $15,973 at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. Amortization expense for assets under finance leases approximated $3,914 and $1,376 for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and is included in Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in the accompanying Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Income.