A coal company is planning to reopen a mine in Western Kentucky next year, creating about 900 jobs with starting pay of $19 an hour, officials said.

“We’re excited,” said Dudley Cooper, a consultant to the Ohio County Industrial Authority. “This should mean an influx of people into Ohio County.”

St. Louis-based Armstrong Coal Co. announced Thursday that it will reopen the Big Run mine in Centertown, about 30 miles south of Owensboro.

Coal was king of the county’s economy for decades. In 1979, a total of 2,343 Ohio Countians worked in five underground mines and 33 surface mines. But environmental concerns about the high sulfur content of Western Kentucky coal led to a coal bust in the 1980s from which the region has yet to recover.

By 2005, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted only 109 mining jobs in Ohio County.

“So many miners have retired,” Judge-Executive David Jones said Thursday. “They’ll have to train young miners for some of these jobs. We have a real opportunity for growth. This should really stimulate our economy and benefit the entire region.”

Lexington attorney Mason Miller, spokesman for Armstrong, said the company will spend $60 million getting the mine ready to reopen.