The Virginia-based miner issued notice of the pending layoffs via a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice, noting they will become effective December 29.
“This is an asset sale. In an asset sale, versus a stock sale, the employees don’t go with the assets of the company; they apply for jobs, or reapply for their current jobs, with the new employer,” Alpha spokesman Steve Hawkins told Coal Age. “Amfire issued a WARN notice because the company is selling the assets and will no longer have the jobs that go with the assets available.”
Alpha confirmed its plans to divest Amfire, including its six underground and six surface mines as well as five associated facilities, in October. The $86 million transaction is expected to close by the end of the year.
Amfire’s production through September, the end of the third quarter, was approximately 1.7 million tons, including 1.2 million tons of metallurgical coal.
Rosebud has so far not publicly commented on the transaction or the personnel layoff plans.
