Under the agreement announced Tuesday, the surety bonds Patriot posted to obtain its mining permits will remain fully in place, but Patriot will post an additional $12.5 million in cash as additional financial assurance for its reclamation and water treatment obligations in West Virginia.
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“It wasn’t an unexpected yet, it’s hard”, White said in a handset audio interview.
The new WARN notice from Patriot Coal extended the period from the original WARN notice issued on August 3, 2015, because of a delay in Patriot’s bankruptcy case.
Patriot said the warning notices are conditional because it doesn’t yet know who will purchase its assets or what the purchaser’s hiring plans will be.
According to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court docket, Patriot Coal’s D.I.P. lenders filed a statement reflecting their support of the Debtor’s Fourth Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization. Coronado Coal LLC was designated the backup bidder.
Patriot’s agreement with the DEP resolves the agency’s objection to the bankruptcy plan.
The Scott Depot, West Virginia-based miner, which went bankrupt in May less than 18 months after emerging from Chapter 11, plans to sell a substantial majority of its assets to Blackhawk Mining LLC and the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF). These obligations include the multimillion-dollar cost of cleaning up mine pollution.
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Bob Bennett, Patriot’s chief executive officer, has said the company believes the assets sale to Blackhawk is in the best interest of the company, its employees and stakeholders.
