Facing over $1B in debt, Westmoreland Coal considering restructuring options

Englewood, CO. | Kemmerer, WY. – Colorado-based, Westmoreland Coal Company is considering restructuring options, including the possibility of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Westmore Coal operates mines in Montana and Wyoming, and owns 14 mines throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company also operates a 13,400 acre surface mine, Kemmerer Mine, located in southwest Wyoming.

The company has cited drop in demand as a major contributor to their current financial woes, and has stated that they are dealing with more than $1 billion in debt.

According to Jesse Noel, Westmoreland’s director of environmental and regulatory affairs, the company has debt and he says that ‘restructuring or something’ is going to have to happen.

Noel has stated that the Montana mines are producing revenue, and that would likely mean, if bankruptcy happens, those mines would be largley spared from whatever measures the company would need to take.

As with other recent coal company bankruptcies, like Peabody and Arch, work wouldn’t necesarilly stop at Westmore Coal’s mines if bankruptcy does become a reality.