Officials issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices July 8; the affected mining operations include Mill Branch Coal’s Dorchester and Osaka deep mines in Wise County, Virginia, 134 employees; North Fork Coal’s North Fork No. 6 deep mine in Letcher County, Kentucky, currently idled; Panther No.1, currently idled; Stillhouse No.1, currently idled; and North Fork No.7, currently idled.
A total of 111 employees work at the No.6 mine or perform maintenance at the idled operations.
Also slated for closure and layoffs in anticipation of a potential sale are Pigeon Creek processing’s plant No.1 in Wise County, Virginia, 31 employees, and Maxxim Shared Services’ support personnel for the mining operations (16 employees).
“This action is consistent with steps Alpha Natural Resources has taken in the past to build a sustainable portfolio of mining assets across the company’s operational footprint,” said Alpha Executive Vice President of Mining Operations Keith Hainer.
While Alpha’s confirmation did not include dates of closure for the mines and facilities, WARN notices are required by federal law to allow 60 days of notice to potentially furloughed workers.
