"We are very pleased to report a marked improvement in our operating performance for the quarter," said Don Blankenship, Massey’s chairman and CEO.

Coal revenues increased 12% in the quarter, to $US343.2 million from $US306.7 million for the prior year period ended September 30, 2001. Coal sales for the quarter increased by 2% to 10.9 million tons in 2002 from 10.7 million tons in 2001.

"Productivity improved significantly at our room and pillar mines, as evidenced by feet mined per shift, which increased progressively throughout the quarter, and longwall results, which were also encouraging," Blankenship continued.

"Over the last half of the quarter, we have seen a payoff from our underground maintenance and purchasing initiatives, which are now being disseminated throughout the organization, and we expect to see further improvement."

Average operating cash costs per ton decreased to $US26.85 in the third quarter from $US30.49 in the second quarter of 2002 ($28.01 per ton excluding a one-time charge related to the Harman jury verdict).

"We have a long way to go to meet our goals," said Blankenship, "but we made significant improvements in our costs by the end of the quarter and expect to see further improvements during the last quarter of the year."