Finance underground coal equipment in Hazard and Perry County, KY. Continuous miners, shuttle cars, prep plant screens. $50k minimum, funding in 1-2 weeks.
Perry County sits at the heart of the Hazard coal district, one of the most historically productive underground coal regions in eastern Kentucky. The Hazard seam group, including the Upper and Lower Elkhorn coals, has driven the county's economy for generations and continues to support active underground mining operations supplying both metallurgical and steam coal markets. Equipment in that environment earns its keep under serious duty cycles, and financing it requires a lender who treats the machine as a productive asset, not just collateral.
Operators in Hazard deal with a specific set of financial realities. Mine development contracts run on fixed timelines. Equipment that is not on the section the day the contract starts is money left in the ground. We fundcontinuous miners,shuttle cars, and full section packages fast enough to make contract start dates without the operator scrambling for emergency capital at bad rates.
The minimum we work with is $50,000. Application-only up to roughly $400,000. Three months of bank statements for larger commitments. We take B and C credit seriously because the eastern Kentucky coal market has put credit stress on solid operators who are still running productive sections today.
Coal and Mining Activity in the Hazard Region
The Hazard coalfield spans Perry, Knott, Leslie, and surrounding counties, with Hazard serving as the commercial and logistics center for the region. Active permits and production in the area include both deep mine operations and smaller highwall and surface recovery projects. Coal preparation plants along Troublesome Creek and the North Fork of the Kentucky River process material from multiple operations, creating demand for screen decks, conveyor equipment, and wash plant infrastructure alongside the underground mining iron.
Metallurgical coal from the Hazard district commands a premium over the thermal grades common to the Cumberland Plateau operations, and operators serving that market have shown stronger capital investment behavior through the recent pricing cycles. A production section running high-vol or mid-vol met coal is a fundamentally different credit profile than a steam coal operation exposed to power plant contracting risk, and we evaluate each accordingly.
The region also supports a network of contract mining operations, particularly smaller companies picking up sections from larger producers who are rationalizing their owned operations. Those contractors frequently need to move fast on equipment without the time or credit history to satisfy traditional lenders. Ourstartup mining business financingpath serves that segment directly.
Section Equipment and Prep Plant Assets We Finance
A complete underground section in the Hazard district typically involves a continuous miner, two to three shuttle cars or ram cars, a roof bolter or bolter miner, a feeder breaker, and associated ventilation and belt structure. The combined value of that package runs well above $1 million for modern equipment, and individual components represent six-figure commitments on their own.
Prep plant equipment is a separate but equally important asset class in this region. Vibrating screens, dense media vessels, thickeners, and belt filter presses represent large capital investments that rarely get financed as aggressively as face equipment. We structure plant equipment deals undermining equipment loanswith terms matched to the useful life of each component, which differs significantly between a screen deck and a refuse conveyor system.
Used equipment sourced from idled sections is common in the Perry County market. A continuous miner pulled from an idled section in Floyd County and moved to an active Hazard-area permit is a real transaction that happens regularly. Ourused equipment programhandles those deals with standard title and lien processing, no OEM paperwork required.
- Full section packages: miner, shuttle cars, bolter, feeder breaker
- Coal prep plant equipment: screens, media vessels, conveyors
- Used section equipment from idled operations in surrounding counties
- Reclamation iron: track dozers, motor graders, water trucks
How the Process Works from Hazard
Send us the equipment list, the amount needed, and the basics of the operation. That first conversation tells us whether the deal fits our program. If it does, we issue a term sheet typically within 24 to 48 hours. Document collection follows, and for application-only deals that means no bank statements, no audited financials. Just the application and basic business information.
For larger section packages requiring bank statement review, the full process from application to funded runs one to two weeks. The variable is almost always document collection speed rather than underwriting capacity. Operators who have their three months of statements and a clear equipment description ready at application close significantly faster.
Draws on used equipment purchases, particularly private-party deals, require a bill of sale, a description of the machine, and confirmation of title status. We handle the lien filing directly so the transaction settles cleanly for both buyer and seller. Funding hits the seller's account within days of a complete package, not weeks.
Common Financing Questions
Questions we field from Perry County and surrounding area mining operators.