Matsushima Coal Mining Co. proposed to its labor union Friday a plan to shut down the Ikeshima Mine in Nagasaki Prefecture, one of the nation's two remaining coal mines, on Nov. 29.
The union is expected to accept the proposal in principle. The Fukuoka-based firm would dismiss all 600 employees and be dissolved.
Matsushima Coal Mining decided to close the mine, located in Sotome, because it is no longer commercially viable due to cheaper imports and an end to government subsidies for domestically produced coal at the end of this fiscal year.
Ikeshima Mine began operating in 1959. Production peaked at 1.53 million tons in fiscal 1985. Its closure would leave Taiheiyo Coal Mine in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, as the sole remaining coal mine.