Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP), a coal mining company based in the United States, recently announced its utilization of surplus electricity for bitcoin mining. Cary Marshall, the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), revealed that ARLP concluded the first quarter of 2024 with a total of approximately 425 bitcoins. Marshall also stated that during the first quarter, ARLP mined 61 bitcoins at an average cost of $24,000 per bitcoin.
ARLP, a U.S. coal mining firm, has confirmed its use of excess power at its facilities to mine bitcoin (BTC). Cary Marshall, the Senior Vice President and CFO, stated that the company initially embarked on this endeavor as a pilot project to capitalize on underutilized electricity that had already been paid for.
According to a transcript of ARLP’s first-quarter earnings call, the company mined and held BTC worth $30 million by the end of the quarter. Conversely, the assets associated with crypto mining had a book balance of $7.3 million.
During the Q&A session of the call, Marshall explained the reasons behind ARLP’s decision to venture into BTC. “It was simply an opportunity that we identified due to the excess power at our mining operations. In 2020, we were exploring ways to potentially monetize this particular asset,” said the CFO.
Marshall also disclosed that ARLP ended the quarter with approximately 425 BTC, which were acquired using mining machines when the coal miner transitioned to bitcoin mining. However, he emphasized that ARLP has not been purchasing BTC.
ARLP’s CEO, Joe Craft, revealed that the company only sells the crypto asset when necessary to cover expenses. Craft also mentioned that the mining firm has spare mining capacity, which it rents out to other Bitcoin miners within the data center.
When asked about the cost of mining one bitcoin, Marshall stated that ARLP mined 61 BTC in the first quarter at an average cost of $24,000. Regarding the halving event, which reduced block rewards to 3.125 BTC per block, the CFO commented:
“So we’ll have to wait and see how the halving event affects the amount of Bitcoin we mine on a quarterly basis going forward. There are various factors involved, but this gives you an idea of our costs and mining output in the first quarter.”
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