Andalex Resources

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This page was last updated on June 29, 2025.

Andalex History

Andalex Resources was a privately-held company that first came to Utah in 1978 when its predecessor company Amca Coal leasing, as a subsidiary of Amca Resources (later Tower Resources), purchased the Pinnacle mine in Deadman Canyon, in Carbon County, about 8-1/4 miles north east of Price.

Amca Resources held the Pinnacle mine beginning in 1978, which was joined by the Wildcat loadout in 1981. Amca Resources became Andalex Resources in 1986 and purchased the Genwal Crandall Canyon mine in 1995, and the West Ridge mine in 1999.

Andalex Resources (and its four Utah properties) was sold to Murray Energy in 2006. The Genwal Crandall Canyon mine and the West Ridge mine were shut down in 2007, and the Centennial mines (later known as the Tower mines) was shut down in 2008. Although the mines are inactive, the sucessor company to Murray Energy, Utah Land Resources, Inc. retains ownership and responsibility. Ownership of the Wildcat loadout was passed to its joint partner, Intermountain Power Agency in 2011.

Andalex Resources was a company with its U. S. offices in Louisville, Kentucky, but its top-level parent company existed behind multiple layers of corporate structure operating out of The Netherlands, hence the regular referrals to it being a Dutch company. Andalex Resources was in fact, a closely-held private company owned by the Mitchell-Green family of Geneva, Switzerland. It had its 150-year-old roots in Scotland, where its most prominent owner had been Sir Harold Mitchell, who died in 1984. (Read the Wikipedia article about Sir Harold Mitchell)

Amca Resources / Andalex Resources

Amca Resources first shows up in available online local newspapers in western Kentucky in July 1978. Amca purchased the Center Coal mine near Nuckols in Calhoun County in western Kentucky in 1977. By January 1979, Luscar, Ltd, and its Amca subsidiary had purchased the Badgett coal properties (Caney Creek, Volunteer, and Cimarron mines) in western Kentucky. Amca Resources had its corporate offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was listed on the Vancouver stock exchange.

Amca Resources had started in the 1970s when its parent company Luscar Group, Ltd., of Edmonton, Canada, purchased coal reserves in western Kentucky, using the name of Amca Coal Leasing, a newly created subsidiary. Sir Harold Mitchell of Great Britain was president of Luscar and was closely involved in the day-to-day operations of the mining operations. His daughter Mary Jean Mitchell Green was equally closely involved, and made regular visits to the mines and company offices. Mitchell died in 1984, at age 84, leaving the family interests in the hands of Mary Jean, and her husband Peter Green. Mary Jean Mitchell Green died in May 1990, of cancer at age 38. (Louisville Courier Journal, December 8, 1986; June 5, 1990)

Amca Resources first came to Utah in 1978 when it began the development of the Pinnacle mine in Deadman Canyon. By 1981 the Pinnacle mine was being operated by Tower Resources, a subsidiary of Amca Resources. Amca Coal Leasing held the coal lease, as a subsidiary of Amca Resources. In mid 1978, Amca Resources was renamed as Tower Resources.

Effective January 1, 1986, Andalex succeeded to all the rights and liabilities of Amca Resources, Inc. by reason of the merger of Amca into Andalex, with the surviving company taking the name Andalex Resources, Inc., with Tower Resources in Utah becoming the Tower Division of Anadlex Resources.

Amca Resources (also known as Tower Resources) became Andalex Resources in January 1986 when it and other Andalex properties were merged. All were held by private overseas interests. Amca was reported as owning two large surface coal mines in western Kentucky, including the Caney Creek coal mine in Muhlenberg county, and the Volunteer coal mine in Hopkins county. The two mines together produced 2.4 million tons of coal in 1985. Amca already owned the Pinnacle coal mine in Utah, which produced 700,000 tons during 1985. Andalex Resources was owned by Cada'am Holdings, which in-turn was owned by the Mitchell-Green families of Great Britain. The company was based in Netherlands Antilles, a group of Caribbean islands well-known as a tax haven for multinational corporations. (Louisville Courier Journal, February 5, 1986)

(This was the first mention in online newspapers of the Andalex name.)

The effective date for the official name change from Tower Resources to Andalex Resources was on March 27, 1986. (West Virginia Secratary of State, Business Organization Detail)

After the formation of Andalex Resources in 1986, taking over the Amca coal properties, Amca Resources remained an active company, focusing on its gold mining properties in Canada. The company terminated operation in November 1990, and was de-listed from the Vancouver stock exchange in March 1991.

Andalex and its various predecessor companies has been owned since its inception by the Mitchell-Green family. The Mitchell family originally became involved in the coal mining business in 1835 with operations in Scotland and subsequently began operating in Canada and the U.S. in 1911 and 1976, respectively. The U.S. coal business subsequently grew through a series of acquisitions of operations and Federal coal leases over the next several years to include the existing Andalex operations in Utah, as well as operations in Eastern and Western Kentucky. The family began shifting its ownership interests away from coal about a decade ago to focus on real estate and investments primarily in Europe. The Canadian business, Luscar Ltd., was sold in 1996 and the Eastern and Western Kentucky operations were divested by mid-1998. Andalex is the last remaining piece of the Mitchell-Green family's coal investment holdings. (Coal Age magazine, January 2006, page 20-21)

April 1990
The former U. S. Steel coal mine in Horse Canyon mine was sold to Intermountain Power Agency and its partner Andalex Resources, as a potential source of fuel for the Intermountain Power Project near Delta. (Documents on file at the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, Permit C0070013)

On May 11, 1990, Mary Jean Mitchell Green, chairwoman of the board of Andalex Resources, died of cancer at age 38. She had become chairwoman of Andalex and Luscar in 1983, upon the death of her father. She was succeeded as Chairman by her husband Peter Green. At the time, Andalex, shown as being owned by the Mitchell-Green family of Geneva, Switzerland, had coal mines in eastern Kentucky, western Kentucky, and in Utah. The family's residence was in Geneva, and Ms. Green was buried in Scotland. (Louisville Courier Journal, May 15, 1990)

October 1994
The parent company of Andalex Resources, Inc. was reported as Andalex Resources B.V of Amsterdam. (Casper Star Journal, October 17, 1994)

May 9, 1997
Andalex Resources sold its Cimarron Division in western Kentucky, and moved its corporate offices to Salt Lake City. The corporate office in Louisville, Kentucky, with its 25 employees, was to be closed in July 1997. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 5, 1997)

2003
Andalex was one of the major suppliers of coal to the Intermountain Power Project near Delta, Utah. During 2003, Andalex was furnishing coal from its West Ridge and Genwal mines. Both mines were jointly owned by IPP and Andalex.

September 27, 2005
Andalex announced that its coal mines in Utah were being sold. The Mitchell family had been part of the coal industry since 1835. Andalex had its beginning in 1976. (Andalex Resources press release dated September 27, 2005)

October 4, 2005
Owned by the Mitchell-Green family since its establishment in 1976, the Andalex company began moving its investment focus from coal to real estate about 1995. Since that time, Andalex has sold two of its assets, including its property in western Kentucky as well as Canadian-based Luscar Ltd. The company chairman stated that it was time for the company to no longer be in the coal business, and to focus on growing the business in different areas. Included in the potential sale was the Tower Division's Centennial Project, and the company's 50 percent interest in West Ridge mine, operated by subsidiary West Ridge Resources, and the company's 50 percent interest in the Crandall Canyon Project, operated by subsidiary Genwal Resources. The other 50 percent of the latter two complexes were owned by Intermountain Power Agency. (Austrailia's Mining Monthly, October 4, 2005)

2006
Luscar, Ltd., sold its Andalex Resources coal properties in Utah to Murray Energy Corporation. Andalex had sold its coal properties in Kentucky in 1998.

(Luscar, Ltd., remained in the coal business, and by April 2018, was Canada's largest coal producer with mines in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.)

August 9, 2006
Murray Energy Corporation "purchased all of the shares of the common stock of Andalex Resources, Inc and its subsidiaries, effective as of August 9, 2006. The Utah operations of Andalex including the Crandall Canyon Project, West Ridge Project, Tower Division and the Wildcat Loadout will be operated by UtahAmerican Energy, Inc, the Utah subsidiary of parent Murray Energy Corporation." (Murray Energy Corporation press release dated August 9, 2006)

(Read more about Murray Energy)

May 11, 2011
Andalex Resources transferred ownership of the Wildcat loadout to Intermountain Power Agency. (Documents on file at the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining)

"Intermountain Power Agency has acquired all the necessary approvals, licenses, rights-of-way, and permits at both state and federal levels to conduct coal storage and loading operations on the plan area. The facility is designed to handle loading and crushing activities up to 5.5 million tons per year."

As of February 2018, Andalex Resources, Inc., was still active in Utah coal mining, along with other companies owned and controlled by Murray Energy, including UtahAmerican Energy, Inc., West Ridge Resources, Inc., and Genwal Resources, Inc.

Andalex Utah Properties

Andalex Wildcat
Wildcat Loadout
Jointly owned with Intermountain Power Agency
Permit No.: C/007/033
Sold to IPA in 2011 -- (Read more about the Wildcat Loadout)

Andalex Centennial Project
Centennial mine
Permit No.: C/007/019
Closed in 2008 (Read more about the Centennial mine)

Andalex Genwal
Jointly owned with Intermountain Power Agency
Crandall Canyon mine
Permit No.: C/015/032
Closed in 2007 -- (Read more about the Genwal Crandall Canyon mine)

Andalex West Ridge
Jointly owned with Intermountain Power Agency
West Ridge mine
Permit Application No.: C/007/041
Closed in 2007 -- (Read more about the West Ridge mine)

Centennial Project (Tower Resources)

(Deadman Canyon)

Centennial Project: Pinnacle mine; Aberdeen mine; Apex mine; portals in Deadman Canyon.

Genwal Mine (1986-2007)

(Crandall Canyon)

West Ridge Mine (1999-2007)

(C Canyon, near East Carbon City and Sunnyside)

(Read more about the West Ridge mine)

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