Coal news and updates

Alpha Natural Resources idles Kentucky metallurgical coal mine

Alpha Natural Resources said Monday is has idled the North Fork No. 7 metallurgical coal mine in Letcher County, Kentucky.

An official said 25 employees were terminated Thursday when the idling was implemented, and another 20 employees were kept on to either assist with the idling process or moved to work at the nearby North Folk No. 6 mine.

Because multiple mines share the same processing plant, an official said it was unknown if any coal mined from North Fork No. 7 has yet to be sold. The company cited the decline of both the thermal and metallurgical coal markets as the reason for the idling, saying prices have "steadily decreased with no sign of improvement."

An official said there is no plan at this point to restart production at North Fork No. 7.

The mine was one of multiple Central Appalachian facilities downsized by Alpha on May 22. At that time, 71 total layoffs were made at the Tiller No. 1 and Dorchester mines in West Virginia and the EMC No. 9 and North Fork mines in Kentucky. The company also sent notices to 439 employees at the Camp Creek underground mine in Wayne County, West Virginia, of plans to stop production.

An official said Monday that no other mines affected by the May layoffs have been idled.

North Fork No. 7 is a new mine that began production in February 2014. The mine produced 93,848 st last year and 43,472 st in the first quarter of 2015, its most productive quarter, US Mine Safety and Health Administration data showed.

Alpha officials said the mine has the potential to produce 200,000 st of high-vol metallurgical coal a year.

source: http://www.platts.com