Here's the model from coal "company towns" in the late 1800s/early 1900s: build town close to mine claim, far from any other town. Build company store in town.

Here's the model from coal "company towns" in the late 1800s/early 1900s: build town close to mine claim, far from any other town. Build company store in town. Fill it with necessities with huge markups. Offer credit for store items to employees. On payday (monthly), all credit owed to company store is taken from wages before you are given a paycheck. BTW, employees don't get paid an hourly rate. They get paid by how much coal they mine, and the company used fake weights when measuring how much coal you loaded each day to make it look like you loaded less than you did. That's the whole scenario behind the song "Sixteen Tons". "Load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go. I owe my life to the company store."