Alpha Natural Resources will suspend operations at three West Virginia coal mines, but will continue to operate a fourth that had been expected to be idled, the company said Friday.
In addition, the company it will extend the time it will operate eight other of its West Virginia operations subject to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice that it filed July 31.
Independence Coal's Twilight (Progress) surface mine in Boone County and Pioneer Fuels' Ewing Fork No. 1 (Pax) surface mine in Kanawha and Raleigh Counties will be idled immediately, Alpah said.
The two mines will be maintained in a condition that will allow them to re-start should market conditions and coal demand improve, the company said.
Combined, the two sites shipped about 760,000 st of thermal coal in the first half of this year and 660,000 st of metallurgical coal.
Alex Energy's Edwight mine in Raleigh County will continue to operate as usual, said Alpha.
Another Alpha affiliate, Marfork Coal Company, idled the Marsh Fork mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Marsh Fork was not part of the group that received WARN notices in July. The mine shipped about 100,000 st of met coal in the first half of this year.
"This is another step in the ongoing process of adapting to a dynamic coal market, with operations making adjustments to match the opportunities we see," said Alpha's President Paul Vining. "Our operations managers and our sales group are working together to ensure that we're in balance with customer demand and able to sustain the company profitably from the set of mines that will continue to operate."
The eight operations covered by the WARN extension notices will be idled no later than two weeks after November 26 include Highland Mining's Superior, Reylas, Freeze Fork and Trace Fork surface mines in Logan County and the North surface mine in Mingo and Logan Counties.
WARN extension notices were given to Black Castle Mining's surface mine in Boone County, Republic Energy's Republic and Workman Creek surface mines in Raleigh County as well as to technical and other support services for these mine operations.
Under the WARN Act, employers with 100 or more workers are required to provide 60-day advance notice of plant closings or mass layoffs.
