Core Natural Resources is what Arch Resources and CONSOL Energy became when they merged in January 2025. The combined company trades on the NYSE as CNR, and it is now the second-largest U.S. coal name by market value after Peabody. Arch holders received 1.326 CNR shares per share; CONSOL was the legal survivor.
Why the merger happened
Scale across both coal types. Arch brought a metallurgical book built around Leer and Leer South in West Virginia plus Powder River Basin thermal volume. CONSOL brought the Pennsylvania Mining Complex — some of the lowest-cost longwall thermal production in the country — and the CONSOL Marine Terminal in Baltimore. Together the company straddles seaborne met, seaborne thermal, and domestic utility supply, with its own export door.
What to watch
- Met coal pricing. Leer's high-vol A product is the premium end of the U.S. export book; Australian benchmarks set the tone.
- Export throughput. The Baltimore terminal is the physical bottleneck and the strategic asset.
- Integration. The combination was pitched on cost synergies; the quarterlies show whether they land.
Legacy profiles are kept for reference: Arch Resources and CONSOL Energy.
See also: Stock Signals for the full producer map, and Coal Markets for how thermal and met pricing work.