Richard “Dick” Preservati

Richard "Dick" Preservati began his career with his father in Gilbert, West Virginia. as a surface and auger mining contractor for A.T. Massey Co. After working in there for four years, Preservati was drafted into the U.S. Army and was discharged in 1966. In 1967, Preservati started Preservati Construction Company and with his dad, Geno had a very small surface mining job at Pageton, West Virginia. Upon completing that job with his dad and his brother, Preservati contracted some of their equipment to United Pocahontas Coal and Preservati struck out on his own with an old $2,500 D-6 Dozer and a Fiat Allis track loader, mining for CONSOL as a contract miner at their Pageton prep plant area. In June 1973, Preservati was surface mining full time as a contract miner for CONSOL and USS Corporation. In 1978, he acquired leases from Pocahontas Land Corporation on the reserves that CONSOL and USS Corporation had released, and at a later date, Preservati formed Mid-Vol Coal Sales, Inc. and Extra Energy, Inc. companies. Preservati continued to mine these leases with his son, Ritch until 1998 when A.E.I. purchased his mining operations. In 2004, he purchased the mining operations back from the bankruptcy court and four years later in 2008, after going from 15 employees to approximately 270 employees, he sold the mining operation to Arcelor Mittal, who is currently mining the property.