Walter J. Scheller III, Chief Executive Officer of coal producer Walter Energy, Inc., provided an update on the company's decision to curtail production at its Willow Creek mine. The Willow Creek surface mine is located near the town of Chetwynd in Northeast British Columbia, and had approximately 19 million metric tons of recoverable coal reserves as of December 31, 2012.
"The current price environment for met coal dictated that we curtail production at Willow Creek in order to ensure we generate a sufficient economic return in mining the high quality met coal reserves at the site. Given the tremendous progress that has been made in the cost structure at the mine, when we see signs of sustainable market pricing conditions we would expect to ramp up production," Mr. Scheller said.
The mine, which will be curtailed in April, currently employs approximately 350 employees, of which approximately 250 will be affected by the decision to curtail production. The Willow Creek mine will continue with limited operations to support Walter Energy's Brule mine.
Willow Creek is the fifth mine Walter Energy has announced plans to curtail or idle as part of its initiatives to address underperforming assets. Last week the company said it was accelerating the closure of its North River underground mine in Alabama. In addition, the company has also idled the Aberpergwm mine in South Wales and the Gauley Eagle underground and surface mines in West Virginia, and has curtailed production at its Maple underground mine, also in West Virginia.