In what the company called a supplemental notice, a total of 1,056 salaried and hourly workers at six operations — Midland Trail Energy, Speed Mining, Wildcat Energy’s Eagle 3 and Samples mines, Remington’s Winchester mine, and the Little Creek Dock — will be impacted.
The original WARN was issued August 3; Patriot pointed to a delay in its bankruptcy case that has pushed back the closing date of its sales to Blackhawk and the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF).
“Patriot continues to expect that a majority of Patriot employees at its mining operations will be offered employment if the sale is completed,” the company said. “Patriot is continuing to work to complete the sale process and achieve a value-maximizing outcome for all of its constituents.”
The sale, according to the notice, is expected to close within the next two weeks.
“This notice is conditional, inasmuch as Patriot at this time does not know the identity of the sale purchaser, nor the hiring plans of such purchaser,” it read. “The company now expects the sale to close on or sometime during the 14-day period from October 22 and November 5 with layoffs to take place during that time. The layoffs will be permanent.”
Neither Blackhawk nor VCLF have commented on the extension, though an anonymous Blackhawk source told WV MetroNews that current Patriot crews will be kept.
“The plan is for Blackhawk to rehire a substantial number of the Patriot employees,” the source said. “It should be a fairly seamless transition for the workers.”
The notice confirmation came within days of the producer’s announcement that its plan of reorganization within its bankruptcy case has been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Until the transactions close, Patriot’s mining operations will continue to operate independently of Blackhawk and VCLF.
