Photo by: Duane Daws
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – In the face of poor market conditions for steelmaking coal, US coal and iron-ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources on Wednesday warned that it was preparing to idle its Pinnacle metallurgical coal mining complex in West Virginia.
Cleveland, Ohio-based Cliffs in a regulatory filing said it had on Wednesday issued employees of subsidiary Pinnacle Mining Company, the United Mine Workers of America union and state and local government agencies with notices under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that it intended to temporarily idle its operations.
The notice started a six-month notice period to some 552 workers at the complex.
Last year, the Pinnacle mine produced 2.8-million tons of high-quality, low-volatile metallurgical coal.
According to Cliffs, the Pinnacle complex, made up of the Pinnacle and Green Ridge mines and the Pinnacle preparation plant, had the distinction of having the only longwall-plough system operating in the US. The system is highly productive and completely automated with the latest technology.
Its most distinguishing feature is the ability to efficiently mine coal without cutting rock that unnecessarily degrades the product.
The metallurgical coal industry had, so far, this year been grappling with sluggish demand for steelmaking coal, resulting in a flurry of mine closures and production deferrals.