Property, Plant and Equipment

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following:

	September 30, 2023		December 31, 2022
Plant and Equipment	$	3,429,950	$	3,330,755
Coal Properties and Surface Lands	904,992		898,628
Airshafts	487,506		481,090
Mine Development	366,260		366,241
Advance Mining Royalties	331,948		331,863
Total Property, Plant and Equipment	5,520,656		5,408,577
Less: Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization	3,603,830		3,448,495
Total Property, Plant and Equipment - Net	$	1,916,826	$	1,960,082

Coal reserves are either owned in fee or controlled 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, 2023 and December 31, 2022, property, plant and equipment includes gross assets under finance leases of $74,507 and $90,516, respectively. Accumulated amortization for finance leases was $57,225 and $54,028 at September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. Amortization expense for assets under finance leases approximated $6,524 and $5,960 for the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and $20,369 and $18,058 for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and is included in Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income.