Alliance Resource Partners Lp (ARLP) SEC Filing 10-K Annual report for the fiscal year ending Saturday, December 31, 2011

Exhibit 99.1

PRESS RELEASE

		CONTACT: Brian L. Cantrell Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. 1717 South Boulder Avenue, Suite 400 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74119 (918) 295-7673

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALLIANCE RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P.

Reports Eleventh Consecutive Year of Record Financial Results With Net Income Up 21.3% for the 2011 Year; Increases Quarterly Unitholder Distribution 3.7% to $0.99 Per Unit; and Provides Guidance for Additional Growth in 2012

TULSA, OKLAHOMA, January 27, 2012 – Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP) today reported that it achieved record financial results for the eleventh consecutive year, with records for revenues, EBITDA, net income and net income per basic and diluted limited partner unit for the year ended December 31, 2011 (the “2011 Period”). Revenues for the 2011 Period climbed to $1.8 billion, an increase of 14.5% compared to the year ended December 31, 2010 (the “2010 Period”). Increased revenues contributed to higher EBITDA, up 14.3% to $570.8 million, net income, which jumped 21.3% to $389.4 million, and net income per basic and diluted limited partner unit, which rose 21.7% to $8.13 per unit. (For a discussion of EBITDA and related reconciliations to comparable GAAP financial measures, please see the end of this release.)

For the quarter ended December 31, 2011 (the “2011 Quarter”), revenues increased 13.4% to $474.6 million, compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2010 (the “2010 Quarter”). Net income and net income per basic and diluted limited partner unit were also higher in the 2011 Quarter, as net income increased 5.0% to $91.7 million and net income per basic and diluted limited partner unit climbed 6.0% to $1.93 per unit. EBITDA for the 2011 Quarter decreased slightly by 2.3% to $129.2 million.

ARLP also announced that the Board of Directors of its managing general partner increased the cash distribution to unitholders for the fifteenth consecutive quarter. The distribution for the 2011 Quarter rose to $0.99 per unit (an annualized rate of $3.96 per unit), payable on February 14, 2012 to all unitholders of record as of the close of trading on February 7, 2012. The announced distribution represents a 15.1% increase over the cash distribution of $0.86 for the 2010 Quarter and a 3.7% increase over the cash distribution of $0.955 for the 2011 third quarter (the “Sequential Quarter”).

“The Alliance team again delivered exceptional results in 2011 as ARLP set new records for all major operating and financial measures. This marks our eleventh consecutive year of record results,” said Joseph W. Craft III, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Looking ahead, we remain encouraged that our strategy of expanding ARLP’s presence as a low cost operator in the growing Illinois Basin and Northern Appalachia coal markets will create opportunities for continued growth in the future. Our record setting results and outlook for the future led our Board

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