An Armstrong County company’s move to acquire Amfire Mining operations is complete.
And the $86 million deal means job cuts for dozens of local workers – plus more throughout western Pennsylvania – as Rosebud Mining adds 10 mines and other facilities into its operation while dealing with a weak coal market, a company official said.
“We think there’s a bright future for coal. But you have to look years down the road, not just necessarily next year,”?Rosebud Executive Vice President Jim Barker said Tuesday, noting the market is “cyclical.”
The company’s acquisitions include the Madison Mine in Jackson Township and the Nolo Mine, just across the Indiana County line near Route 422, as well as a list of other deep and surface mines that Barker said fit “within our geographical footprint.”
As of this fall, the Madison Mine employed 95 workers, and the Nolo Mine – one of multiple Indiana County sites included in the deal – employed a crew of 104, Department of Environmental Protection mine data show.
Barker did not have specific figures for the Madison Mine, but said approximately one-third of the Amfire workforce employed at the mines were interviewed and are being rehired. In many cases, Rosebud’s own employees or other recent hires would join them at mine sites, he added.
But at the same time, production is also being scaled down at Madison and many other newly acquired mines – and employment at the sites will reflect that – while Rosebud evaluates its new operations and resources, Barker said.
Rosebud plans to reactivate a coal cleaning – or “preparation” – plant in Clymer, Indiana County. That site will help reduce the workload and haul loads at its Portage Township plant, which has drawn ongoing complaints from Shoemaker Circle neighborhood residents because of heavy truck traffic and dust created by the vehicles, Barker added.
“(Amfire) was just trying to consolidate that work into one location. But that’s not how we intend to do it,” Barker said.
A new access road will be built to the Portage Township facility once the plan moves through the property transaction and project permit processes are complete, he said.
Surface mines included in the sale are temporarily being idled, if they weren’t already, Barker added.
As part of the transition process, Amfire parent company Alpha Natural Resources filed a mandated “WARN Act”?notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor in November.
It notified the state that all 412 employees involved with its Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Elk, Indiana, Jefferson and Somerset county operations were being laid off by their company, the department’s Website shows.
The figure did not reflect the number of employees who will now be working for Rosebud, Barker added, noting they will be considered new hires.
The Amfire to Rosebud transaction involved $75 million plus the assumption of other liabilities, Alpha and Rosebud reported.
Rosebud Mining has coal mines in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
Alpha will continue to operate two large Pennsylvania mines in Greene County – the Emerald and Cumberland mines, the company said.
More than 1,100 workers are employed at those operations, which were not connected to the $86 million deal, Alpha Natural Resources officials said in a press release.
David Hurst is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at (814) 532-5053. Follow him on Twitter @TDDavidHurst.
First Published: December 31, 2014, 12:55 p.m.
