The operator of the Decker coal mine in Montana announced bankruptcy and layoffs Dec. 03 due to poor coal market conditions.
Utah based Lighthouse Resources filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware Thursday.
The company in a press release cited market conditions and other economic hurdles connected with COVID-19. Lighthouse’s subsidiary, Decker Mine Company, operates near the Wyoming border in southeast Montana’s Big Horn County. Lighthouse said in the press release it will reduce operations at Decker.
Its other holdings, Millennium Bulk Terminals in Washington State and part of the Black Butte Mine in Wyoming, will function as usual. The company this year reported a drop in coal export sales and furloughed Decker Mine workers in both May and September.
The mine let 76 people go Dec. 2., just over half its workforce of 135, according to a Lighthouse Spokesperson.
Copyright 2020 Yellowstone Public Radio