TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US coal miner Alpha Natural Resources on Friday announced that two of its operating affiliates had given employees notice that certain West Virginia coal mines were being idled in response to sustained weak market conditions and increasingly stringent federal government regulations.

In compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, Alpha advised 91 Highland Mining Company employees that Highland Mining's Superior, North and Trace Fork surface mines would be shuttered.

The company also announced a reduction in the workforce at its Reylas and Freeze Fork surface mines, in the Logan and Mingo counties, respectively.

Alpha added that seven workers with Rum Creek Coal's Anna Branch reclamation unit, working at the affected mines, would also be displaced.

About one-quarter of the affected workers would continue to perform reclamation work as three of the operations wound down to an idle state. The mine idlings and workforce reduction were expected to be complete by mid-April. 

Alpha in November made a short-term decision to keep these mines operating as existing coal supply contracts were being fulfilled.

The NYSE-listed miner had late in July last year issued WARN Act notices to about 1 100 employees, working at 11 West Virginia surface mines, as well as at certain support operations, advising workers that their facilities were expected to be idled.

Eight of those mines again received WARN extension notices on September 26, two were idled, and one other – Alex Energy's Edwight mine – continued to operate without extending its WARN notice.

The company cited the persistent weakness in US and overseas coal demand and depressed price levels, along with regulatory pressures, contributing to the premature retirement of coal-fired power plants across the nation, as having triggered its actions.

A global supply glut had also contributed to falling coal prices.

“Unfortunately, despite the hard work of these operations to reduce costs in this unprecedented business climate, prices remain depressed and current coal supply simply exceeds demand,” Alpha chairperson and CEO Kevin Crutchfield said, stressing the continued need to adjust to challenging market conditions.

The mines that were being idled produced 1.5-million tons of thermal coal in 2014. 

"These actions are consistent with steps that we've taken in the past to build a smaller but more sustainable portfolio of mining assets across our operational footprint. We are confident that a portion of the displaced miners will be able to fill available positions at other Alpha-affiliated mines,” Crutchfield commented.