Abingdon, VA, July 23 – Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) today issued the following statement:

“We have seen Duquesne Capital Management's most recent press release and disagree strongly with its assessment of our pending merger with Foundation Coal. As the U.S.'s largest producer and exporter of metallurgical coal and a leading supplier of thermal coal, we have both real-time insight and an informed view on the short, medium and long-term outlook for this industry and the markets we are in every day.

“Given our industry experience we remain convinced that the merger with Foundation will create significant, long-term value for shareholders. To date we've received outstanding support from our base of long-term investors who fully understand the strategic logic behind the transaction.”