President Donald Trump’s mad dash to unleash more mining and burning of “beautiful clean coal” across the U.S. is running face-first into unfavorable market realities.
The president has vowed to reverse Biden-era policies, rev up U.S. mining, and keep aging coal-fired power plants alive. But hundreds of miners have been laid off in states like West Virginia in recent weeks, prices remain low and a growing number of small, metallurgical coal producers across the U.S. continue to declare bankruptcy.
Last week, Core Natural Resources laid off 200 miners in West Virginia at a metallurgical coal mine. The announcement arrived after Coronado Global Resources laid off workers at its coal mine in the state. Miners were also laid off at Alpha Metallurgical Resources’ mine in Boone County last year. At the same time, companies like Corsa Coal Corp. and Coking Coal, LLC, have declared bankruptcy, and some say the industry will continue to face turbulence.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see several other producers either go out of the market or … you’ll see substantial cutbacks, layoffs,” Randall Atkins, founder of Kentucky-based Ramaco Resources, which mines both coal and rare earths, told POLITICO’s E&E News. “There are plenty of others that are not in good shape. There are more companies out there that are teetering.”
