Local news outlets including West Virginia MetroNews said 173 workers received Worker Adjustment Retraining (WARN) Act notices on October 26. The mine and preparation plant are both included, and no plans were disclosed for miner transfers.

“We’re stating our intent to shut down within 60 days,” Mark McCormick, United’s general counsel and vice president, told The Inter-Mountain this week. “We reserve the right to rescind that, but that will be dependent on market conditions and performance of the mine.”

Carter Roag Coal, located in Mill Creek, Randolph County — one of the hardest-hit areas amid the market downturn — has been an operating subsidiary of Tennessee-based United Coal since 2004 and mined about 600,000 tons of mid- to high-volatile metallurgical Sewell seam coal annually.

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