A bankrupt coal operator’s request to liquidate its assets has been denied by a federal judge in West Virginia.
Blackjewel filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy last year. It mostly halted its operations, which put hundreds of miners out of work. The company had sought to convert to Chapter 7, which would allow it to liquidate its assets.
Federal Judge Benjamin A. Kahn denied the request in an order on Monday.
Blackjewel’s mine shutdowns put about 600 employees in Wyoming and 1,100 in Appalachia out of work last year, and left hundreds of Kentucky and Virginia miners without pay.
