According to local news station WYMT, the affected workers at the Perry County mine were informed of the plans Friday morning.
While a Teco Coal spokesperson did not respond to an ILN request for comment and more details on the layoffs Monday afternoon, personnel director Paul Matney told the news outlet over the weekend that he hopes that the situation will only be temporary.
In addition to the higher temperatures, he also cited the economy and a drop in natural gas prices as impetus for the decision, and said there are problems finding sales contracts when demand for its coal is low.
“This is not something that we enjoy,” Matney told WYMT. “All of our employees that are affected have families.”
Teco Coal is a division of Florida-based Teco Energy.
According to company data, Perry County Coal has underground and surface operations and produces high quality steam coal for utilities and industrial stokers.
With mining capacity of 4 million tons per year, the complex extracts from the Hazard #4, 5A, 7, 8, 9 and Elkhorn #3 and #4 seams. Its 1350 ton-per-hour preparation plant and two unit train loadouts can load 5000 tons per hour at prime rates.