Contura mines back open

Changes continue in the coal mining industry as the coronavirus pandemic makes a bad market worse.

One positive economic note is that Contura Energy has reopened several mines it had closed April 3 that employed nearly 290 people, according to Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy Public Relations Manager Tarah Kesterson. “They tell us the miners are wearing masks,” she wrote Monday.

Patriot Mining in Wise County shut down an operation last week, ordering furloughs for most of the 40-person workforce, according to Kesterson. However, the mine reopened Monday, she noted.

On the other hand, Arcelor Mittal Extra Energy shut down a Tazewell County mine Friday, Kesterson reported, with 51 miners furloughed.

On April 13, Kesterson reported that the J.W. Construction Co. Inc. mine in Wise County would close for two weeks and 23 miners would be furloughed.

In late March, Consol Energy Inc. shut down its Buchanan Mine No. 1, which employs more than 500 people.

Also, INMET Mining LLC announced in late March that it would close its Osaka, Pigeon Creek, North Fork and D-31 mines, which employ nearly 100 people.