Rockdale, Texas has been hit hard economically in the last year with the local coal-fired power plant and mine shutting down its business operations. Bitmain is stepping in to ease the economic pain by replacing the coal mining operations with Bitcoin mining operations.
Last October the state’s largest electricity generator, Sandow, announced it was closing three coal-fired power plants in Texas due to being not profitable, one being in Rockdale, Texas along with the adjacent coal mine.
This was especially hard for Milam County residents, a small town of roughly 25,000 residents about 30 minutes outside of Rockdale. This area was well known for more than 60 years as a coal an aluminum town as many residents and their families were coal miners.
In the past year, due to the closing, property values have dropped 85% and roughly 325 jobs have been lost. This has forced many residents to relocate or travel hours just to find work. In addition, the town itself has lost most of its tax revenue, which was being paid by the power plant and mine.
In an attempt to bring the town to its former glory, Bitmain is opening a cryptocurrency mining operation at the site of a nearby closed aluminum mine outside of Rockdale. This operation is expected to replace the 325 lost jobs with 300-500 new jobs.
While Bitmain has yet to publicly announce their plans or announce when the mining operation will open its doors, the Chinese company has been active on Indeed.com (job listing website), listing a need for a project manager in Rockdale, Texas.
If Bitmain pulls this off it will be opening a facility that has been closed for about a decade and would be the second Bitcoin mining operation to set up shop in an old aluminum plant. More importantly, it will bring jobs to an area that has been hit hard by the move from the recent closings.
