Patriot Coal Corp. hopes to unload more than $400 million in debt in a newly announced deal to sell its remaining West Virginia mines, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Patriot said yesterday that an affiliate of the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF), an environmentally focused nonprofit, is in line to acquire two Patriot mining complexes in West Virginia as well as mining permits. As part of the deal, which Patriot hopes to subject to higher bids through a court-overseen auction process, VCLF would take responsibility for more than $400 million in liabilities — workers’ compensation, black lung and environmental — tied to the assets. VCLF Chief Executive Tom Clarke said that mining operations would continue at Patriot’s Federal complex in northern West Virginia, where the organization will seek to reduce carbon emissions. The deal covers most of the assets that would remain if Patriot closes a previously announced sale of most of its mines to Blackhawk Mining LLC. Read more. (Subscription required.)
In related news, busloads of United Mine Workers of America miners and retirees roared in protest outside Patriot Coal headquarters yesterday, as the bankrupt company looks to nix a union contract that includes pension contributions and health benefits, the New York Times reported today. From a makeshift stage on the bed of a tow truck, UMWA President Cecil Roberts bellowed out to a camouflage-clad crowd of 1,500 to 1,800 miners and led them in a march to nearby Patriot headquarters. UMWA packed 22 buses of miners from Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, according to union spokesman Phil Smith. Read more.
