A Murray Energy subsidiary has notified an Illinois state agency that it plans to lay off 255 employees in three months in a move that industry sources say would likely shut one of the company’s top producing Illinois Basin mines. American Coal, a subsidiary of St. Clairsville, Ohio-based Murray, said in a federally required WARN notice to the state’s Department of Commerce that layoffs at the New Future mine in southern Illinois would begin July 21 and are “expected to be permanent.” Murray spokesman Gary Broadbent had cited “adverse mining conditions” in a statement Wednesday announcing 122 immediate layoffs at the New Future mine. Broadbent said in a statement Friday that the mine’s longwall system remains operational and service to existing customers will not be interrupted. The state requires a WARN notice for “mass layoffs,” defined as more than two-thirds of its workforce for a company that employs 25 […]