By Dana Pico

August 2, 2017 - Alpha Natural Resources filed for bankruptcy two years ago when the American coal industry went into free fall.

Now a revamped version of the coal mining company is planning to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. And it’s giving a lot of credit to President Trump for what it sees as its strong prospects.

Contura Energy (CNTE), which acquired Alpha’s core assets in bankruptcy, said it plans to raise as much as $162 million in an initial public offering as soon as next week.. . . .

Contura is poised to become the third American coal mining firm to go public this year, joining Ramaco Resources and Warrior Met Coal (HCC), which formed from the ashes of bankrupt Walter Energy.

While still a shell of its former self, the coal industry may be stabilizing after years of destruction.

The left have frequently mocked conservatives by asking, “How’s Trump doing at bring back coal jobs?” I’ve pointed out before two of my articles, noting mine openings in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

President Trump’s policies favor more production of coal, but they will take time to have a major impact, if they ever do: the coal industry fell on hard times due to economic factors just as much, if not more, than government regulations, and the decline began well before the Obama Administration. Natural gas is cheaper to produce, and cleaner burning, than coal, and, thanks to hydraulic fracturing, natural gas and petroleum is being captured where it was previously impossible to extract.

How many coal mining jobs will be created? We have no way of knowing, not yet. But for the miners who get those jobs, it will be a Godsend.