NEW YORK – Blackhawk Mining filed for Chapter 11 court protection in Delaware, adding to a growing list of bankrupt coal miners.
The Lexington, Kentucky-based company in court documents listed more than $1-billion in debt, compared to $165-million in Ebitda last year. Details of the filing were reported earlier this week, including its plan to cut debt by about $650-million.
Cloud Peak Energy, Blackjewel and Cambrian Holding are among the coal mining companies that have gone bankrupt in the past year. Blackhawk focuses on the more-profitable metallurgical coal that is used in making steel, but still had to seek court protection to deal with its debt pile, CFO Jesse Parrish said in a court declaration.
Blackhawk has about 2 800 employees, mostly in Kentucky and West Virginia. The company cut a restructuring deal with more than 90% of its lenders before filing and aims to confirm its bankruptcy plan in August, court papers show. Blackhawk has said the bankruptcy won’t disrupt employees, vendors or customers.