A Patriot spokeswoman confirmed that 60 employees were impacted at the Wells complex near Wharton, along with 15 at the Corridor G complex outside of Danville.
The St. Louis-based producer first announced the potential layoffs April 23, but did not indicate at that time how many workers would be facing elimination.
Prior to the furlough, Wells employed 450 workers and Corridor G employed 397.
Wells includes the Black Stallion and CC10 mines, as well as the Wells preparation plant. It produced a combined 1.4 million tons of metallurgical coal in 2013. The Corridor G complex includes the Hobet 21 mine and Beth Station preparation plant.
“These actions are an unfortunate but necessary step to align Patriot’s production with expected sales,” Patriot President and Chief Executive Officer Bennett Hatfield said in late April. “Both metallurgical and thermal coal markets continue to be challenging, with pricing at levels well below production costs at many Central Appalachian mines. Despite the savings we achieved in our reorganization, the production costs of these mines exceed today’s depressed prices, necessitating these actions.”
