Item 4.01 Changes in Registrant's Certifying Accountant.
(a) On February 25, 2021, the Audit Committee (the "Committee") of the Board of
Directors of Alliance Resource Management GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability
company and the general partner of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., a Delaware
limited partnership (the "Partnership"), dismissed Ernst & Young LLP ("Ernst &
Young") as the Partnership's independent registered public accounting firm,
effective immediately. The Partnership notified Ernst & Young of its dismissal
on February 25, 2021. The decision by the Committee was made on the basis of
reducing ongoing costs related to the Partnership's annual audit services.
The audit reports of Ernst & Young on the Partnership's consolidated financial
statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 did not
contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor were they qualified or
modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles. During the
fiscal years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, and through February 25, 2021,
there were no (a) disagreements (as that term is used in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of
Regulation S-K and the related instructions to Item 304 of Regulation S-K) with
Ernst & Young on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial
statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not
resolved to the satisfaction of Ernst & Young, would have caused it to make
reference to the subject matter of the disagreements in connection with its
reports; or (b) reportable events (as described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of
Regulation S-K).
The Partnership provided Ernst & Young with a copy of the foregoing disclosures
and requested that Ernst & Young furnish the Partnership with a letter addressed
to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission")
stating whether it agrees with the above statements, and if not, stating the
respects in which it does not agree. A copy of that letter, dated March 1,
2021, is filed as Exhibit 16.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.
(b) On February 25, 2021, the Audit Committee approved the appointment of Grant
Thornton LLP ("Grant Thornton") as the Partnership's independent registered
public accounting firm beginning with the Partnership's quarter ending March 31,
2021, effective immediately. During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019,
and through February 25, 2021, the Partnership did not consult with Grant
Thornton with respect to (a) the application of accounting principles to a
specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit
opinion that might have been rendered on the Partnership's consolidated
financial statements; or (b) any matter that was either the subject of a
disagreement (as that term is used in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and
the related instructions to Item 304 of Regulation S-K) or a reportable event
(as described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit
Number Description
16.1 Letter of Ernst & Young LLP, dated as of March 1, 2021.
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL).
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ALLIANCE RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P. 
