Alliance is a diversified coal producer and marketer with significant operations in the eastern United States.  We have mining operations in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, and Maryland.Strategically located operations, abundant long-lived reserves and appropriate acquisitions have provided us solid growth opportunities since we began operations in 1971 as MAPCO Coal Inc. As a result, Alliance is now the third-largest coal producer in the eastern United States.Our customer base includes major utilities and industrial users. Coal is the energy source used by utilities to fuel approximately 45 percent of the electricity generated in the United States of America each year.  In 2012, more than 90 percent of our sales tonnage was dedicated to electric utilities that have long-term contractual relationships with us.As of February 1, 2013, we had 4,345 full-time employees, including 4,091 employees involved in active mining operations, 86 employees in other operations, and 168 corporate employees.  At year end 2012, we had $1.96 billion in assets and had generated $2.03 billion in total revenues for the year. Alliance was the coal-producing industry's first publicly-traded master limited partnership. Alliance's common units are traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the ticker symbol "ARLP."