Consol Energy Inc has announced that it is likely will close its 277 employee Washington, PA mining plant in March 2009.

Mr Tom Hoffman, spokesperson of Consol Energy said that metal quality coal is no longer the hot ticket item it was a year ago, when the price of steel was skyrocketing along with demand for it. He added that plans to shut down operations materialized some time ago, because the longwall mine was getting harder and more expensive to develop due to its rocky geological features.

Generally, Consol sells about 90% of its coal to energy suppliers that burn it for electricity. The remaining 10% goes into the metal industry.
About 70 workers were laid off last month as part of the mine’s new direction. But by that time, it was already obvious that metal demand wasn’t rebounding quickly.

As indicated in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice filed with the state, 84 mining company may shut down indefinitely and begin displacing workers during a 2 week period starting on March 4th 2009.

As indicated in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice filed with the state, 84 mining company may shut down indefinitely and begin displacing workers during a 2 week period starting on March 4th 2009.