Patriot Coal plans to cut production at two mining complexes in
southern West Virginia
St. Louis-based Patriot announced
Wednesday that it has issued 60-day layoff notices to workers at its Wells
mining complex near Wharton and its Corridor G complex near Danville
The federal Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act requires companies to provide notice to
employees if large layoffs are possible.
Patriot employs 450 workers at the
Wells complex and 397 workers at the Corridor G complex.
Patriot president and CEO Bennett K.
Hatfield says in a news release that the company needs to align its production
with expected sales.
"These actions are an unfortunate
but necessary step to align Patriot's production with expected sales,"
said Patriot President and CEO Bennett K. Hatfield. "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."
During the 60 day period, mine
management at both locations will be evaluating operations and staffing to
assess their ability to produce coal at a cost below projected sales prices,
according to the news release.
Company leaders also say the scope of
the anticipated downsizing will be communicated at the conclusion of that
process.
