https://www.miningweekly.com

Alpha Natural affiliates to downsize Central Appalachian mining ops

Alpha Natural affiliates to downsize Central Appalachian mining ops

Photo by Reuters

22nd May 2015

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

  

Font size: - +

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Several operating affiliates of US coal miner Alpha Natural Resources on Friday notified more than 500 employees that their mining and processing operations would probably be idled.

NYSE-listed Alpha’s affiliates gave 439 employees at Rockspring Development's Camp Creek underground mine and processing plant, in Wayne County, West Virginia, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices, citing the mine operator's current assessment of market conditions as the reason for doing so.

Three other Alpha-affiliated mine operators announced last week that reductions in their workforces were taking place as a result of sustained weak market conditions and government regulations that had challenged the Central Appalachian coal industry, the company said.

Seventy-one employees were impacted, including 17 at Enterprise Mining's EMC No 9 underground mine, in Knott County, and at the Roxana Prep plant, in Letcher County, both in Kentucky; 35 employees at Knox Creek Coal's Tiller No 1 underground mine, in Tazewell County, Virginia; and 19 at Mill Branch Coal's Dorchester and North Fork underground mines, in Wise County, Virginia and Letcher County, Kentucky.

Alpha stressed that persistent weakness in US and overseas coal demand and depressed price levels, along with government regulations that were causing electric utilities to close existing coal-fired power plants and forego construction of new coal-fired capacity triggered the layoffs.

A global supply glut had also played its part in the sustained price weakness, forcing several other North American coal producers to shutter mines and scale back operations.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

M and J Mining
M and J Mining

M and J Mining are leading suppliers of physical support systems as used by the underground mining industry. Our selection of products are not...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

PGMs and green hydrogen make headlines
PGMs and green hydrogen make headlines
19th April 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.15 0.187s - 106pq - 2rq
1:
1: United States
Subscribe Now
2: United States
2: