PITTSBURGH -- The Mathies Coal Co. said Thursday it has abandoned efforts to reopen a southwestern Pennsylvania mine because it cannot secure the more than $16 million needed to restore the mine after a fire.
Parent firm National Steel Corp., whose National Mines division operated the Mathies mine near Finleyville, said the mine's assets would be sold.
About 400 jobs will end permanently as a result.
Mathies Coal president Vaughn Knapp said a major factor in the decision was National Steel's inability to provide financial support because of its own losses this year in the recessionary economy.
National Steel has reported losses totaling $104.6 million for the first three quarters of 1991.
Knapp said the company could not afford to restart the mining operations despite $2.1 million in loans pledged by the state and federal assistance in pursuing loan guarantees.
'We are deeply appreciative of these efforts, and of the cooperation received from the United Mine Workers over the past year,' Knapp said in a prepared statement. 'We regret that despite this interest and assistance, we have been unable to obtain sufficient funds to reopen the facility.'
The Mathies Mine was closed a year ago following a major underground fire near its Thomas portal, south of Pittsburgh. The facility's eight openings were sealed to cut off oxygen and work crews were able to re- enter a portion of the mine earlier this year.
The company said major equipment expenditures and infrastructure repairs would be needed to resume operations even on a reduced scale.
Mathies had produced about 1.6 million tons of relatively low sulfur coal annually. About 10 percent of its output was used by National Steel and the remainder sold to utility and industrial customers.
