Nearly 200 workers in West Virginia have been issued a layoff notice as Alliance Resource Partners confirmed late last week that its Mettiki Mountain View operation in Tucker County will close its doors.
All 199 employees of the coal operation were issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices with furloughs effective April 1. Alliance said Mettiki employees not involved in the reduced production of coal will focus efforts on reclamation activities, as needed, throughout the mine site.
Chairman, president and CEO Joseph Craft III said that the mine, which has been in operation for nearly five decades, said a mixture of issues were at play in its decision to idle.
“Unfortunately, a series of planned and unplanned outages at a key customer’s plant negatively impacted their demand and our shipments in 2025. We have recently been informed that the plant expects additional outages during 2026 and based upon current demand projections and contractual commitments for 2026, they are not in a position to commit to purchase any additional tons from Mettiki for the foreseeable future,” he said.
“Due to the location of the mine and the low-volatile quality of coal the mine produces, Mettiki’s livelihood depends on this customer purchasing a minimum of one million tons per year for it to be viable under its existing operating plan. With no clear alternative customer to absorb production, issuing WARN Act notices became an unavoidable step.”
Craft confirmed that Mettiki’s full year coal sales and production volumes for 2025 was approximately 1.2 million tons, with 300,000 tons shipped to the export metallurgical market and the balance to the same key customer’s plant.
As of January 29, Alliance said that Mettiki expects to fulfill its existing contractual commitments, which are scheduled to conclude in March 2026, primarily from its existing inventory.
“Production will immediately cease, giving Mettiki time to evaluate its options concerning the mine’s future and the exact timing for permanent closure,” the producer added.
ARLP is the second largest coal producer in the eastern United States.
Source: arlp.com