Drummond does business from the ground down. The company mines and processes thermal and metallurgical coal. It operates the Shoal Creek underground coal mine in Alabama and the Mina Pribbenow surface coal mine in Colombia. Its ABC Coke unit in Alabama produces foundry coke, used mainly in the automotive, construction, and sugar industries. Drummond controls more than 2 billion tons of reserves and sells nearly 30 million tons of coal annually. It also develops housing communities and office parks in Alabama, California, and Florida. H. E. Drummond began the company in 1935 on land homesteaded by his mother; his sons took over the business after his death in 1956. The Drummond family still owns the company.