US coking coal producer Core Natural Resources will pause operations at its Itmann mine in August, the firm told Argus today.
"[Core Natural Resources] plans to idle part or all of its operations at its Itmann Mine #5 and its Itmann Preparation Plant in early August due to weaker-than-expected market conditions and economic forces impacting the industry and the mine," the company explained.
Core filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice yesterday, notifying staff it would be cutting 200 employees at the West Virginia mine by the end of August.
The site produces a low-volatile coking coal with a stated production capacity of 900,000st.
Itmann has never reached half of this planned output capacity. Consol Energy — which owned the mine before merging with Arch Resources in January — began producing small volumes at the site in 2020, steadily increasing its output to a record of 400,000st last year.
The firm had initially hoped to produce 700,000-900,000st at Itmann last year, but said "lingering supply chain issues and adverse geological conditions" led to lower output.
It is a "common opinion" in the US coal industry the geology of Itmann makes the site unattractive for miners, a US supplier said.
Producers had considered mining at the location for decades before Consol launched the project, but were put off for geological reasons, another miner said.
Consol acknowledged staffing issues at the site at the start of 2024.
Core Natural Resources lowered its 2025 production guidance by 600,000t last month, citing low sales prices and weak demand for coking coal.
