Jan 10, 2015 1 min read

FRIEDENS (AP) – A Canadian company has idled two Southwestern Pennsylvania coal mines that it purchased last year and laid off 130 employees as it combines operations at two nearby mines.

Corsa Coal said Friday that weakness in global coal markets had prompted the firm to eliminate 25 percent of its Northern Appalachian Division workforce.

CEO George Dethlefsen said the Toronto-based company has 420 remaining employees in the division, which consists of PBS Coals of Friedens and Wilson Creek Energy of Somerset.

And he said “As the market recovers, we’re going to call a lot of these people back.”

The company has decided to idle the former PBS Coals mines at Kimberly Run and Barbara and place them under review for closure. Some workers were transferred to the division’s Casselman and Quecreek mines.