ARCHIVE

Patriot bankruptcy hearing postponed

A BANKRUPTCY hearing tomorrow for embattled US operator Patriot Coal has been rescheduled for later this month.

Donna Schmidt
Patriot bankruptcy hearing postponed

According to a court filing posted to the company’s case administration web site Friday, the hearing will now be held January 29 at 10am in St Louis, Missouri.

Another court date to appoint an official retiree committee in the case is set for February 26.

The hearing will be the first to be heard in US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Patriot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 9 in the Southern District of New York, but a judge ordered a case transfer/change of venue last November.

The case is now assigned to US Bankruptcy Court judge Kathy Surratt-States.

United Mine Workers of America president Cecil Roberts said late last year that the court made the right call moving the hearing for the Missouri-based producer.

“Nobody has ever mined one ounce of coal in Manhattan,” he said.

“Patriot Coal executives set up two dummy corporations in New York because they wanted their case heard in a forum far from the coal fields.

“St Louis is where Patriot Coal is headquartered. More important, it’s the headquarters for Peabody Energy and Arch Coal.

“These two companies spun off their operations to Patriot in an attempt to run away from pension and health care obligations to thousands of miners and their survivors.”

When Patriot filed for bankruptcy in July, it blamed cancelled contracts, rising costs and plummeting coal prices for its woes. It tried reducing production, but that proved unsuccessful.

It has since delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2023 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of current exploration rates, trending exploration technologies, a ranking of top drill intercepts and a catalogue of 2022 Initial Resource Estimates and recent discovery successes.