An Alpha Natural Resources spokesman says the company plans to lay off 117 people when it shuts down a Kentucky coal mine in November.
Spokesman Steve Hawkins tells the Lexington Herald-Leader that the company has issued a required 60-day layoff notice at the Process Energy Mine in Pike County, which is set to be closed on Nov. 7.
Hawkins says dismal market conditions are the reason for the layoffs.
He says the Process Energy mine is Alpha’s last active mine in Kentucky. The Bristol, Virginia-based company has 18 mines in West Virginia.
Alpha’s departure doesn’t necessarily show a trend in Kentucky, however. As WFPL News reported earlier this summer, despite widespread losses in the coal industry, mining permits have remained strong in the state:
