A nine-member group of senior managers and mine operations heads at James River Coal Co. would get aggregate payments of $890,000 to $2.7 million as part of a proposed incentive program, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The Richmond, Va.-based mining company, which is going through its second trip in bankruptcy, asked a federal bankruptcy court judge to approve incentive, retention and severance programs as James River Coal approaches a July asset auction. Pending approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond at a hearing on Wednesday, the senior managers and mine operations heads would get the payments based on the company meeting certain value targets achieved through a sale, a chapter 11 reorganization or both. Also up for approval are retention payments, not to exceed about $1.4 million in total, to 39 lower-level employees.
