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The first new US coal mine of the Trump era will employ fewer people than an average supermarket

All new and shiny.
All new and shiny.
Image: AP Photo/Dake Kang
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The US’s first new coal mine in years, heralded by president Donald Trump as a fulfillment of campaign promises, will employ 70 people, according to Fox News. That’s significantly fewer than the 92 jobs created by the opening of one American supermarket on average (based on 2015 numbers from industry groups and and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics).

The Acosta mine, owned by Corsa Coal Company, opened June  in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Trump referenced the open-pit mine during his June 1 speech announcing his decision to withdraw the US from the international Paris agreement on climate change, the Associated Press notes.

“When I ended the ‘war on coal,’ I said I would put our incredible miners—and that’s what you are, incredible—back to work,” Trump said in a video message that played at the mine’s opening ceremony.

Corsa Coal Company CEO George Dethlefsen told Fox News that 400 people applied for the 70 positions available at the mine.