A Venango County Bitcoin mining company that went public last month has completed its acquisition of a plant in east central Pennsylvania that almost doubles its power generation capacity and is building its presence in Pittsburgh with a local tech leader on board.
Stronghold Digital Mining closed its purchase of the Panther Creek plant in Nesquehoning, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, a coal refuse reclamation-to-energy facility that uses the same technology as Stronghold’s Scrubgrass plant in Venango County. Terms were not disclosed. The commonwealth designated both facilities as a Tier II Alternative Energy Source, which makes them eligible to earn renewable energy credits. Essentially, the plants convert coal refuse into power which is then used to mine Bitcoin, the digital asset that is the best-known cryptocurrency.
Kit Mueller has joined Stronghold (NASDAQ:SDIG) as vice president of corporate development and, according to his posts on social media, the company is hiring for several departments including engineering, finance and operations. Mueller was not available for comment.
An investor, advisor, organizer and champion of innovation in Pittsburgh for more than a decade, Mueller is best known as a founder of RustBuilt, a grassroots initiative supporting entrepreneurs and startups. He is among three Pittsburgh employees identified on LinkedIn and Stronghold also put its brand on the side of a building in a hot retail enclave in the heart of the Strip District.
Pittsburgh connections for Stronghold aren’t surprising. Co-chairman William Spence is based in Fox Chapel. A former Mobil Oil Corp. engineer, Spence has been involved in coal refuse reclamation since 1993.
Stronghold went public on Oct. 20, resulting in net proceeds of $132.5 million earmarked for general corporate purposes including acquisitions of miners — actually computers — and power generating assets. Its stock has ranged between $23.35 and $35.79 per share, closing on Monday at $27.26.
In the release issued Monday about the Panther Creek deal, Stronghold also said it recently entered into an agreement to acquire 12,000 S19j Pro miners from Bitmain, “expected to be delivered in six equal batches on a monthly basis beginning in April 2022.” Bitmain Technologies Ltd., based in Beijing, China, offers hardware and solutions, for blockchain and artificial intelligence applications.
“We are pleased to close on our second power asset to grow our low-cost power supply for our bitcoin mining operations,” Greg Beard, Stronghold co-chairman and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “We believe we have a differentiated business model within the Bitcoin mining industry, as we not only have some of the lowest electricity costs, but our operations create a positive environmental outcome in the places we operate through the cleanup of these toxic legacy waste coal piles.”
Stronghold expects to begin installing miners at Panther Creek next month, Beard said.
"This swift deployment of mining equipment is representative of the efficiency with which we execute our business plans, and we are excited about our future growth initiatives and opportunities,” Beard said.
