AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT ABERMARLE

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Albemarle Corporation, a specialty chemicals manufacturing company specializing in lithium, bromine, and catalysts, has announced a major cost-cutting initiative following a $1 billion loss.

The initiative will impact up to 7% of its global workforce, representing 15% of the company's non-manufacturing jobs.

In this second round of layoffs, approximately 500 employees will be impacted following 300 employees in January 2024.

According to CEO Kent Masters, "This allow us to advance near-term growth and preserve future opportunities as we navigate the dynamics of our key end-markets.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT HYCROFT MINING

Denver, Colorado-based Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation, a gold, and silver producer engaged in the operations, development, and exploration activities of the Hycroft Mine, an open-pit heap leach operation in Nevada.

The company has announced that it ceased operations and laid off 109 employees on November 10, 2021. The remaining 100 employees at the mine will continue to process mined ore until finances are depleted.

Hycroft CEO and President Diane Garrett noted in a press release, “As a result of current and expected ongoing cost pressures for many of the reagents and consumables used at the Hycroft Mine, and the timeline for completing its updated technical studies in early 2022, effective immediately the Company is discontinuing pre-commercial scale mining at its run-of-mine operation. The Company will continue producing gold and silver from ore on the leach pads as long as it is economic and will right-size the workforce to meet ongoing operational requirements.”

“Despite the higher production and sales compared to the respective 2020 periods, Hycroft has consistently generated operating losses and used cash in operating activities as a result of operating a pre-commercial scale direct leaching ROM operation with high relative operating costs due to insufficient recoveries resulting from lower grades mined combined with escalating prices of consumables and reagents."

“Ongoing and future technical work for the Hycroft Mine will be primarily focused on the pre-feasibility study and technical report for the Acid POX milling for processing sulfide ore and completing the variability and metallurgical test work. We also plan to evaluate exploration opportunities targeting higher ore grades and expect to continue to advance the proprietary two-stage sulfide heap oxidation and leach process as time and resources permit.”

"We believe we are taking the most prudent approach to de-risking the project, including critical steps to continue the important work necessary for the development of this substantial mineral endowment.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

LAYOFFS: NO LOVE AT THE GENESIS MINE

According to a statement from the Western Kentucky Coal Company, the company has announced a permanent mass layoff and mine closure at the Genesis Mine near Centertown, Kentucky to commence on  or after February 24, 2020.  “These decisions were difficult, but the extremely depressed coal marketplace dictated these changes. We will have no further comment.” 250 employees are impacted in a region that is already economically depressed. Other mining operations are struggling to keep their own workers and the capacity to absorb displaced workers is lacking.

Parent company, Saint Clairsville, Ohio-based  Murray Energy, the eighth coal company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 noting “Although a bankruptcy filing is not an easy decision, it became necessary to access liquidity and best position Murray Energy and its affiliates for the future of our employees and customers and our long-term success. These decisions were difficult, but the extremely depressed coal marketplace dictated these changes.”

In this era of environmentalism and hatred for coal and fossil fuels, it should come as no surprise that the demand for coal for energy production and steel-making has drastically declined.

Politics are a strange thing as the 2020 Democrat presidential candidates praise the workers but cheer the demise of their livelihood, and in the case of Murray, the last contributor to the pension fund of the United Mine Workers of America.It remains to be seen how much of a hit the pension fund and other creditors will take post-bankruptcy and if the industry will ever recover from this environmental nonsense.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?