PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following:

	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
Plant and Equipment	$	3,008,945	$	2,890,970
Coal Properties and Surface Lands	863,191		858,153
Airshafts	430,592		419,100
Mine Development	342,706		342,405
Advance Mining Royalties	327,966		327,543
Total Property, Plant and Equipment	4,973,400		4,838,171
Less: Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization	2,866,649		2,731,643
Total Property, Plant and Equipment, Net	$	2,106,751	$	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 September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, property, plant and equipment includes gross assets under finance leases of $49,899 and $49,775, respectively. Accumulated amortization for finance leases was $27,458 and $15,973 at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. Amortization expense for assets under finance leases approximated $3,919 and $3,927 for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 and $11,753 and $9,236 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and is included in Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income.