International Coal Group
Encyclopedia
International Coal Group, Inc. (ICG) is a mining company in the United States that produces coal from 12 mining complexes in Northern and Central Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...

 (Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

) and from one complex in the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 Basin.
The company is now headquartered in Teays Valley, West Virginia
Teays Valley, West Virginia
Teays Valley is a census-designated place in Putnam County, West Virginia, United States. The place is divided into the two districts of Teays Valley and Scott Depot...

.

History

ICG was formed in May 2004 by investor Wilbur Ross
Wilbur Ross
Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. is an American investor known for restructuring failed companies in industries such as steel, coal, telecommunications, foreign investment and textiles. He specializes in leveraged buyouts and distressed businesses. In 2011, Forbes magazine listed Ross as one of the world's...

, who led a group that bought many of Horizon Natural Resources' assets in a bankruptcy auction. Ross, originally operating as Newcoal LLC with four other investors, expressed interest in buying Horizon's nonunion properties, but not its six union operations. Horizon was then allowed to sever its union contracts, including pension benefits, by bankruptcy court, according to the Associated Press in the story "Coal Miners Lose Health Benefits" on August 9, 2004.

In March 2005, ICG agreed to acquire Anker Coal Group, Inc. {In its third quarter report dated October 26, 2005, ICG reported, "All conditions to closing the acquisitions have been satisfied other than effectiveness of the related registration statement."

On June 15, 2011 Arch Coal, Inc.(NYSE: ACI) announced that they had completed their acquisition of International Coal Group, Inc. (NYSE: ICO) through a merger, with International Coal Group becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Arch Coal
Arch Coal
Arch Coal is an American coal mining and processing company. The company mines, processes, and markets bituminous and sub-bituminous coal with low sulfur content in the United States. Arch Coal is the second largest supplier of coal in the U.S. behind Peabody Energy. The company supplies 16% of...

.

Sago Mine disaster

ICG operates the mine in Sago, West Virginia
Sago, West Virginia
Sago is an unincorporated community in Upshur County, West Virginia. It is located along the Buckhannon River and is the site of the Sago Mine, scene of the 2006 Sago Mine disaster....

 where at approximately 6:30 a.m. on January 2, 2006, 13 coal miners
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

 were trapped after an explosion in the Sago Mine disaster. Twelve miners were later found to have died, while one survivor was taken to a hospital in critical condition. ICG faced controversy after an initial report claimed 12 of the trapped miners had been found alive. A fund to support the families of the miners has been started. ICG gave an initial donation of $2 million, their competitor, Massey Energy
Massey Energy
Massey Energy Company was a coal extractor in the United States with substantial operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. By revenue, it was the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia...

, has donated $250,000, and many citizens have made donations, bringing the total of the fund to roughly $3 million. On January 27, 2009 the Charleston Gazette reported that families of two of the victims settled their lawsuits with ICG, according to Kanawha Circuit Court documents.

External links

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