An Overview of Westmoreland Coal

Westmoreland Coal (WLB) is one of the oldest coal companies in the United States. The company started mining coal in 1854 in Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania—hence its name. It moved its headquarters to Colorado in 1995.

Currently, WLB is the sixth-largest coal producer in North America. Westmoreland has 17 coal mines in the United States and Canada, a 50% stake in an activated carbon plant and char production facility, and two coal-fired power generation units. WLB owns and operates 29 draglines, making it the largest dragline operator in North America.

Of its 17 mines, 13 are surface mines and produce thermal coal. US coal operations are located in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Texas. The Canadian coal operations are located in Alberta and Saskatchewan. WLB also owns a thermal coal export mine.

Westmoreland started trading on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker WLB on May 2, 2011.

In this series, we’ll analyze Westmoreland Coal’s (WLB) business model. We’ll explore how the company has expanded its business, and evaluate its key operational metrics and financial position. After reading this series, you’ll understand what sets Westmoreland Coal apart from competitors Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP), Peabody Energy (BTU), CNX Coal Resources (CNXC), and Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) in the coal (KOL) mining business. We’ll wrap up this series by analyzing the company’s valuation and factors that could drive it in the future. We’ll look at the company’s business model in the next part of this series.