A two-week holiday extension at the Blackville No 2 operation and a one-week extension at the Robinson Run mine are expected to clip the company’s total coal production by 300,000 tons.

Consol president Nicholas DeIuliis said the current market for domestic coal reamed weak due to poor economic growth and activity.

“Adding to this weakness is the continuing, ongoing, and increasing pressure from the [Environmental Protection Agency] that creates, at a minimum, significant uncertainty for our power generation customers relating to the continued use of coal,” he said.

The Appalachian-focused miner will conduct two belt rehabilitation projects during the Blacksville No 2 vacation while work to maintain Robinson Run in a ready state will continue through its extended leave.

Blacksville No 2 has produced 1.27 million tons of coal to date in 2012 with 585 total employees.

Robinson Run mine has produced 2.4Mt in that same time-period using one longwall, four continuous mining units and 621 employees.

Consol has 12 active bituminous coal mining complexes in four states and controls 4.5 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves.