Consol Energy Inc will idle a coal mine near Price, Utah and permanently close another near Washington, Pennsylvania because of high costs and weak markets for coal in the regions.

The company said that it will cut 171 jobs at the Emery mine in Utah and 60 jobs at Mine 84 in Pennsylvania and will likely take a one time charge.

A drop in natural gas prices has hurt some coal mining operations, with utilities choosing to switch some electricity generation to cheaper gas.

Coal prices in some regions of the United States rose during the summer as high temperatures spurred power generators to buy more of the fuel to meet the higher electricity demand.

But market watchers had warned that the cooler seasonal temperatures in October and November could hurt coal sales, especially if gas prices remained weak.

The Emery mine uses continuous mining machines and the room and pillar method of mining to produce thermal coal, and has operated without a worker injury for more than 400 days.

The mine has an inventory of 250,000 tonnes of coal that remains to be sold.

The company said that mine 84 has been in operation for decades producing thermal and metallurgical coal, but was no longer competitive.

(Sourced from Reuters)