EXHIBIT 23.3


PricewaterhouseCoopers [LOGO]
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                                      PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
                                                      950 Seventeenth Street
                                                      Suite 2500
                                                      Denver CO 60202
                                                      Telephone (303) 893 8100

February 10, 1999

To the Board of Directors of AEI Resources, Inc.


We hereby consent to the use in the Prospectus constituting part of this
Registration Statement on Form S-4 of AEI Resources, Inc. relating to the
registration of $150 million in Senior Subordinated Notes Due 2006 of our report
dated August 31, 1998, relating to the Cyprus Eastern Coal Operations combined
statements of assets, liabilities and parent investment at December 31, 1997 and
1996 and the combined statements of operating expenses of cash flows and of
parent investment for each of the years in the three-year period ended December
31, 1997 which appear in such Prospectus. We also consent to the references to
us under the heading "Experts" in such Prospectus.

/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP