Cumberland Resources Corporation

Cumberland Resources Corporation, based in Abingdon, Virginia, was purchased by Massey Energy in March of 2010 and became part of Alpha Natural Resources in 2011.

Massey Energy purchased Cumberland for $960 million in cash and stocks. According to a statement by Massey Energy on PR Newswire, Cumberland was one of the largest privately held coal producers in the United States with 2009 coal revenue of $550 million generated from the production and sale of 7.8 million tons of Central Appalachian coal of which 4.8 million tons was metallurgical. Cumberland operated primarily underground coal mines in Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. Its assets include an estimated 416 million tons of contiguous coal reserves, a preparation plant in Kentucky served by the CSX railroad and a preparation plant in Virginia served by the Norfolk Southern railroad. Of the estimated reserves, Massey believes more than half (216 million tons) have metallurgical coal qualities.

Cumberland president Richard Gilliam was praised for sharing $80 million in bonuses from the $960 million transaction with 500 Virginia employees and several hundred more at Black Mountain Resources in Kentucky.

Gilliam is a graduate of the University of Virginia's College at Wise, and is also a director of Endurance Gold Corporation (EDG - TSX.V), a precious metals exploration and development company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of highly prospective North American mineral properties with the potential to develop world-class deposits. In August, 2011 he also donated $500,000 to the state of Virginia's permanent disaster relief fund.

Personnel of Cumberland

 * Richard B. Gilliam, owner and president
 * Marvin W. Gilliam, vice president
 * Leslie F. Gilliam, treasurer, manager

Attendance at Koch strategy meeting
In June 2011, Richard B. Gilliam and wife Leslie attended a closed strategy session of the billionaire Koch brothers, where Charles Koch said: "We have Saddam Hussein, this is the mother of all wars" in what appeared to be a reference to President Obama and the 2012 elections. Charles Koch then suggested that those in attendance could donate millions or billions toward the war. R. Gilliam is director with the Vancouver-based mining corporation Endurance Gold.

Political Donations by Cumberland executives

 * Marvin W. Gilliam $5000 to KENTUCKY STATE DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE on 09/25/01
 * Marvin W. Gilliam $1000 to BUSH-CHENEY 2000 COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE INC on 10/27/00
 * Leslie F. Gilliam $1000 to BUSH-CHENEY 2000 COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE INC on 10/24/00
 * Richard B. Gilliam $1000 to BUSH-CHENEY 2000 COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE INC on 10/16/00
 * Leslie F. Gilliam $1000 to MCCAIN 2000 INC on 02/17/00
 * Richard B. Gilliam $1000 to MCCAIN 2000 INC on 07/23/99

Super PAC Contributions
In 2011, the founder of Cumberland Resources gave $250,000 to Karl Rove's American Crossroads, according to an E&E Daily analysis of campaign finance data.

Related SourceWatch Articles

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 * United States and coal
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
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 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)