Cumberland Mine up for sale, Contura announces

Responding to a series of hits to coal demand over the past year, Contura Energy Inc. said on Monday the Cumberland Mine in Greene County is no longer economical in the long term, and it will try to sell it off in the next year.

The facility, which produced more than 6.5 million tons of coal last year according to federal data, employs around 750 workers, by the company’s estimates at the end of last year.

Tennessee-based Contura became Cumberland’s owner after the bankruptcy of Alpha Natural Resources. Contura emerged from that case with Alpha’s best assets and without the liabilities that weighed down the bankrupted miner.

When Contura announced in early April it would temporarily idle most of its mines for four weeks in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, Cumberland was notably not impacted and continued to operate.

The company was scheduled to pump some $60 million into a capital project at Cumberland this year to build a refuse impoundment. On Monday, Contura said it won’t spend that money and revealed it has restructured its contracts with customers so all coal supply arrangements will end by Dec. 31, 2022.

Contura also announced it is idling two mines in West Virginia.

“Given the current market conditions and what we expect from the near-term outlook, it is clear that these properties are not economical and will not be able to deliver the kind of value we strive for in our portfolio,” Contura’s CEO David Stetson said in a statement.