TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – New York-listed coal miner Alpha Natural Resources is keeping eight West Virginia coal mines open and retaining about 750 coal miners after Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices have expired.

Despite the Bristol, Virginia-based firm warning that the longer-term plans for the mines continued to depend on market prices and demand, Alpha chairperson and CEO Kevin Crutchfield credited the efforts undertaken by the mine operators and their workers to reduce their costs to compensate for weak coal prices.

Alpha had late in July 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 received WARN extension notices on September 26, two were idled owing to sustained weak market conditions and government regulations challenging the Central Appalachian mining industry, and one other – Alex Energy's Edwight mine – continued to operate without extending its WARN notice.

As of Monday, the mines that would continue to operate included Highland Mining's Superior, Reylas, Freeze Fork and Trace Fork surface mines in Logan County; the North surface mine in Mingo and Logan Counties; Black Castle Mining's surface mine in Boone County and Republic Energy's Republic and Workman Creek surface mines in Raleigh County.

Other technical and support services for these mines also witnessed the WARN Act extension notices expire without a reduction in the workforce.

“Many of these sites have made significant progress in improving efficiencies and finding cost savings. They were proactive in presenting ideas that helped move the mines toward enhanced contributions to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) while continuing to operate safely and in an environmentally sound way,” Crutchfield said.

Alpha president Paul Vining added that on top of reducing the cost of extracting coal, sales opportunities had improved in some locations.

“Though demand for Central Appalachian thermal coal has declined, there is residual demand for the coal these mines produce and we've booked enough sales to allow the mines to continue operating,” he pointed out, adding that there was concern that the coal sales market was changing, increasing the likelihood of a more volatile market.

“The market is moving toward a spot market, away from longer-term agreements that coal suppliers and customers have worked with in the past. We're certainly mindful of the low stockpiles some utilities have on hand and are trying to ensure we are ready to respond should demand increase,” Vining stated.

However, he warned that buying coal on an ‘as needed’ basis might not be an effective strategy if the US experienced another cold winter, demand spiked and the rail system continued to struggle with performance.

Earlier this year, PJM Interconnection – the regional transmission organisation that coordinated wholesale electricity for 13 states (more than 60-million Americans) – set a new record for November demand, breaking the previous record set last year. Another cold winter could put pressure on utilities' ability to procure fuel, whether coal or gas, on a prompt basis.

Alpha said the cost efficiencies gained by the Alpha-affiliated operations were important in allowing the mines to continue to produce in a safe, cost-efficient manner.

In contrast, US miner Patriot Coal had on Friday issued 670 Kentucky coal miners with WARN Act notices, citing low natural gas prices and increasingly stringent US Environmental Protection Agency regulations, which continued to drive down thermal coal prices, as the cause.

Alpha’s NYSE-listed stock closed down 10.16% at $1.68 a share on Monday.