The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
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GILLETTE — Given the choice of what to hear first, good news or bad news, Powder River Basin coal producers and the thousands of people who work the mines are used to asking for the good news – only to be told there is none. Five years of working through a historically swift decline, thermal coal regions like Campbell County and the PRB have settled for most of the mines still operating at any level as the best news they could reasonably hope for. Now for the first time in nearly six years, whe...
GILLETTE — In a move that could potentially stave off a second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in five years for Peabody Energy Corp., the company has announced an agreement with its creditors to refinance $459 million of debt. The agreement, made in a Christmas Day a press release, includes all of its revolving lenders and about 65% of its 6% senior secured notes due in 2022. In the release, the company calls the deal a “comprehensive financing solution” to help give it some financial breathing room as it continues to drown in red ink. “Toda...
GILLETTE— A decade ago, the Powder River Basin was hitting its economic peak. Fracking was exploding to pump new life into Wyoming’s oil and natural gas industries, and coal was proving why it was the real black gold of the Cowboy State. The Powder River Basin produced nearly 420 million tons of coal in 2009 and accounted for 50% of the electricity generation in the United States. The four large, publicly traded coal companies that dominated PRB production were so flush with cash they were taking on billions in debt to fuel extensive expansion...
GILLETTE — When he got the call Thursday, Aaron McAllister was hopeful he’d be going back to work nearly three months after being furloughed from the Antelope coal mine. Instead, he got his severance package with the news that furloughs for himself and 79 other coal mine workers are now permanent layoffs. “I had hopes we were actually going to go back to work today,” McAllister said Friday. “We were hopeful, because there’s nothing to lose, so you might as well be [optimistic].” He and his girlfriend both worked at the mine located south...
GILLETTE — Compared to the large metropolitan areas found in and around Washington, D.C., Gillette is a pretty small fish. But there’s nothing small-time about carbon research happening here. That was one of the observations of a top U.S. Department of Energy official when he toured the Dry Fork Station power plant, the connected Integrated Test Center and the nearby CarbonSAFE test well site Wednesday afternoon. “They have just a fantastic setup to test [carbon capture] technology,” said Steven Winberg, assistant secretary of fossil energy at...
GILLETTE — Patience may be a virtue, but if you’re among the nearly 600 locked out Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr coal miners who have been out of work for 56 days, it’s also more difficult to practice. For many, there is no more patience. Deanna Fritz has spent a dozen years as a coal mine worker, including the last two has a haul truck driver for Blackjewel. After Fritz and about 1700 of her coworkers in four states were abruptly locked out of their jobs without notice July 1, they’ve been living what she described as a roller coaster soap opera n...
GILLETTE — Nearly 600 Blackjewel LLC coal workers in Wyoming and West Virginia may see a monthlong forced layoff end soon after the company has agreed to sell a trio of mines to Contura Energy Inc. An agreement to sell the company’s flagship Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines in Campbell County, along with the Pax Surface Mine in West Virginia, was one of the notable outcomes of a marathon three-day Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction that began Thursday morning and concluded about 8:45 p.m. Saturday. After a competitive bidding process, Contura wil...
GILLETTE — Blackjewel LLC President and CEO Jeffrey Hoops Sr. will resign as a condition of a federal bankruptcy court’s order granting $5 million in emergency financing to pay for security and other maintenance at the company’s properties as it pursues a Chapter 11 reorganization. The financing, which will come from Riverstone Credit Partners, will provide money to adequately secure shuttered Blackjewel coal mining operations, including the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines in Campbell County. The mines were abruptly shut down and emplo...
GILLETTE — Cloud Peak Energy’s bankruptcy filing Friday afternoon may be the beginning of the end for the Gillette-based coal producer. Unlike previous Powder River Basin coal bankruptcies, Cloud Peak seems to be looking to shed debt and sell its assets rather than emerge as an ongoing company. The company said it will continue to attempt to sell “all of its assets” and that the company expects its three PRB mines “will continue normal operations throughout the process.” The filing ends months of speculation about Cloud Peak’s shaky financi...
