Consol spokeswoman Lynn Seay told ILN Wednesday that its advance teams completed construction of all 21 seals yesterday at the KuhnTown and Orndoff locations of the Blacksville No. 2 mine in Wayne, near the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border.
“The seals will set for the necessary time required to cure to the strength required by the approved construction plan,” she said.
“Consol Energy believes this will happen within one week.”
With all points in place, the Pennsylvania-based producer submitted its plan to the US Mine Safety and Health Administration and state regulatory officials to prepare the mine for resumption of operations.
Seay said a firm restart date was subject to approval of the plan, and thus was still undetermined.
Blacksville’s day shift workers were evacuated March 12 after smoke was discovered coming from the mine. No injuries were reported in the incident.
Both the mine and the preparation facility have been closed since that time.
According to US Mine Safety and Health Administration statistics, the mine employs more than 500 workers.
Blacksville produced about 3.2 million tons of coal last year.
It is not clear what impact the closure will have on the mine and producer’s annual targets.
