Coal news and updates

Patriot Coal Corp. is idling two western Kentucky mining operations while it mulls the future of coal production there.

The company said in a release Sunday that the Highland Mine near Henderson, Kentucky, and the Dodge Hill Mining Complex located near Sturgis, Kentucky, would be idled effective Monday.

Those operations employ about 670 people and in 2013 produced 3.9 million tons of thermal coal, used to generate electricity.

Early this month, Patriot had warned workers at those mines that it was evaluating strategic options for the operations that could result in "substantial workforce reductions." Officials said Dec. 5 that natural gas prices and EPA regulations continue to drive down thermal coal prices, resulting in operating losses at many U.S. mines.

The company said Sunday that the Heritage preparation plant and the barge loading terminal on the Ohio River are expected to continue processing and shipping coal from onsite stockpiles.

A decision regarding future coal production at the idled complexes "will be made in conjunction with the company's ongoing review of strategic options," Patriot officials said in the release.

St. Louis-based Patriot Coal Corp. (OTC Pink: PATCA), a producer and marketer of coal in the eastern United States, has 10 active mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin. Patriot emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2013, after it closed on $576 million in bankruptcy exit financing from Barclays and Deutsche Bank, as well as an additional $250 million rights offering backstopped by Knighthead Capital Management.

Ben Hatfield is Patriot Coal's president and chief executive.

Patriot Coal reported net income of $85.8 million on revenue of $1.46 billion in 2013, its latest financials released publicly.

 

 

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/