Core Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CNR) shares lost heavily Thursday. The Canonsburg, Pa.-based miner today announced that it was taking steps to temporarily seal the Leer South mine's active longwall panel in order to extinguish isolated combustion-related activity there. Based on its collaborative, ongoing discussions with regulatory authorities, Core believes Leer South will be able to resume development work with continuous miners within the next three months, and to resume longwall mining mid-year.
"On behalf of the Core management team, I want to commend Leer South personnel for their exceptional efforts in managing a challenging situation safely and effectively, and I want to thank the regulatory agencies for their great support during this process," said CEO Paul A. Lang. "While we are disappointed that we may be losing around two quarters of longwall production at Leer South, we are confident we are taking the right steps to protect the mine, mining equipment, and infrastructure.
This morning’s news release said the re-entry process will be multi-phased, beginning with the construction of ventilation controls followed by the resumption of continuous miner development. As a result, the company expects to advance development work on future longwall panels, which should enable the longwall system to operate in a highly efficient manner in the year's second half.
CNR dropped $4.65, or 4.6%, to $97.26.
