as nyse arch industry coal mining founded 1969 founded 1997 current corporation headquarters st. louis missouri key people john w. eaves president ceo paul a. lang executive vice president coo 1 products coal revenue 4.2 billion fy 2012 2 operating income 682 million fy 2012 2 net income 684 million fy 2012 2 total assets 10 billion fy 2012 2 total equity 2.9 billion fy 2012 2 number of employees 6 424 2 website www.archcoal.com arch coal is an american coal mining and processing company . the company mines processes and markets bituminous and sub bituminous coal with low sulfur content in the united states . arch coal is the second largest supplier of coal in the u.s. behind peabody energy . the company supplies 15 % of the domestic market . 3 demand comes mainly from generators of electricity . 4 arch coal operates 32 active mines and controls approximately 5.5 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves located in central appalachia the powder river basin illinois basin and the western bituminous regions . the company operates mines in colorado illinois kentucky utah virginia west virginia and wyoming and is headquartered in st. louis missouri . the company sells a substantial amount of its coal to producers of electric power steel producers and industrial facilities . 2 contents 1 key facts 2 history 3 politics 4 competitive status 5 environmental impact 5.1 mountaintop removal in appalachia 5.2 colorado mining 5.3 mine reclamation 5.4 environmental awareness 6 references 7 external links key facts edit produces low sulfur thermal coal for power generation and metallurgical coal for steelmaking 5 supplies coal to customers on five continents 2 holds the most diversified position among u.s. coal producers with operations in every major domestic coal basin 2 controls more than 5 billion tons of thermal coal reserves and more than 400 million tons of metallurgical coal reserves 2 established the arch coal foundation in 2005 which emphasizes education and teaching excellence in communities with scholarships grants and the signature teacher achievement award 4 6 earns national awards for responsible practices including five u.s. department of interior good neighbor awards and six msha sentinels of safety awards 7 8 history edit arch coal was formed in july 1997 through the merger of publicly traded ashland coal inc. and privately held arch mineral corporation . arch mineral had its origins in 1969 when it was formed as a partnership between ashland oil now ashland inc. and the h.l.hunt family of dallas texas ; ashland coal was formed in 1975 as a wholly owned subsidiary of ashland oil . with the completion of the merger arch became the leading producer of low sulfur coal in the eastern united states . 9 in june 1998 arch coal expanded into the western united states with the acquisition of the coal assets of atlantic richfield . included in this transaction were the black thunder coal mine and coal creek mines in the powder river basin of wyoming ; the west elk longwall mine in gunnison county colorado ; and a 65 % interest in canyon fuel company which operates three longwall mines in utah . 10 in october 1998 arch added to its powder river basin reserves when it was the winning bidder on thundercloud a 412 million ton federal reserve tract adjacent to the black thunder mine . 11 in july 2004 arch coal solidified its position as a leading producer of high btu low sulfur western bituminous coal with the acquisition of the remaining 35 % interest in canyon fuel company and its 161 million ton reserves . 12 in august 2004 arch again expanded its position in the powder river basin with the acquisition of triton s north rochelle mine adjacent to arch s existing black thunder operation . by integrating the north rochelle mine with black thunder arch created the premier mine in the nation s fastest growing coal supply region . 13 in september 2004 arch again added to its powder river basin reserves when it was the winning bidder on little thunder a 719 million ton federal reserve tract adjacent to the black thunder coal mine . 14 in december 2005 arch coal sold select eastern assets to magnum coal company to unlock the value of some of its central appalachian holdings sharpened its focus in that region and strengthened its balance sheet in preparation for future growth . 15 in august 2006 arch acquired a one third interest in knight hawk coal a growing coal producer in the illinois basin . 16 in october 2009 arch acquired rio tinto s jacobs ranch mine and blended it with black thunder coal mine in the southern powder river basin of wyoming creating the single largest coal mining complex in the world . 17 in november 2009 arch acquired the rights to mine 731 million tons of otter creek coal reserves in the northern powder river basin of montana . 18 on june 15 2011 arch acquired international coal group icg and cemented its place as a top five global coal supplier and a top 10 metallurgical coal producer and marketer . 19 in december 2011 arch coal became the successful bidder for a 222 million ton federal coal lease known as the south hilight tract in the southern powder river basin . 20 in june 2013 arch coal announced the planned sale of its canyon fuel company llc subsidiary to bowie resources llc . canyon fuel includes the sufco skyline and dugout canyon mines in utah . 21 22 in january 2016 arch coal filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . 23 this was stated to be a part of a restructuring aiming at reducing debt by 4.5 billion . 24 25 on october 5 2016 arch coal emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . the company won a court approval allowing them to erase almost 5 billion in debt and left bankruptcy with 300 million in cash . arch coal resumed trading on the new york stock exchange under the ticker arch . unsecured creditors and bondholders will receive 30 million in cash along with 6 % of the new shares according to court agreements . bondholders will also have the option to receive either warrants to buy up to 12 % of the company s new stock or an additional 25 million cash . 26 politics edit arch coal pac is named along with other major coal producers as a donor to the 2004 election campaign in west virginia . 2004 was a record setting year for donations made by the coal industry . 27 competitive status edit arch is number 564 in the 2013 fortune 1000 list . 4 they are the second largest coal producer in the united states . 3 environmental impact edit mountaintop removal in appalachia edit arch coal practices mountaintop removal mining which is controversial because it reduces the height of mountaintops 28 their west virginia mining operations in the appalachian mountains were the subject of a critical documentary in 2002 on now with bill moyers on pbs . 29 arch s dal tex mining operations above the town of blair west virginia were the subject of a 1998 u.s. news & world report story shear madness by penny loeb . 30 the story documented the impacts of mountaintop removal on communities close to the mines and their subsequent depopulation . a 1999 lawsuit brought by the west virginia highlands conservancy bragg v. robertson was the first successful citizen lawsuit to stop arch s proposed mountaintop removal valley fill . the fill would have buried several miles of stream at pigeon roost hollow near blair west virginia . 31 in his ruling for the plaintiffs judge charles h. haden stated that if there is any life form that can not acclimate to life deep in a rubble pile it is eliminated . no effect on related environmental values is more adverse than obliteration ... under a valley fill the water quality of the stream becomes zero . because there is no stream there is no water quality . 32 as of 2012 the company reported that surface mining in appalachian mountains accounted for roughly 4 percent of its annual coal production . 2 colorado mining edit earthjustice the sierra club the center for biological diversity and other environmental groups announced a campaign in 2015 against arch coal s mine project in the sunset roadless area of gunnison national forest . 33 34 mine reclamation edit arch coal used more than 1 billion in self bonding to guarantee it could pay for its mine reclamation obligations under the surface mining control and reclamation act of 1977 . 35 after arch coal declared bankruptcy the wyoming department of environmental quality agreed to accept 75 million in place of the company s 486 million in self bonding liability to the state . 36 environmental awareness edit arch coal s subsidiary operations reported a water compliance rate of 99.9 percent over a 10 year period between 2002 and 2012 . 37 in 2012 arch coal became the first energy company to earn the conservation legacy award from the national museum of forest service history . the museum of forest service history awarded this honor in recognition of arch coal s commitment to the protection of natural resources wildlife and water quality values during mining and restoration operations . 38 references edit http thomson.mobular.net thomson 7 3060 4711 document 0 archar12 finalwebview.pdf arch coal inc. annual report including 10k a b c d e f g h i j k arch coal inc. annual report including form 10k pdf . a b u.s. energy information administration 2011 annual coal report pdf . a b c arch coal inc. company profile from hoover s past three annual reports missourifirms.com arch coal foundation arch coal awards page msha.gov ashland coal and arch mineral are set to link chicago tribune arch coal expands atlantic richfield agrees to sell arch coal buys coal tract in wyoming news release arch acquires remaining 35 % interest in canyon fuel company news release arch coal completes acquisition of triton coal company news release arch coal inc. successful bidder for federal coal lease in powder river basin news release arch coal sells select assets in central appalachia to magnum coal company news release arch coal acquires interest in knight hawk coal news release arch coal completes acquisition of jacobs ranch news release arch coal and great northern properties enter into montana coal lease on otter creek reserves news release arch coal completes acquisition of international coal group news release arch coal winning bidder for south hilight coal lease mining weekly arch coal sells utah thermal coal mines news release arch coal to divest non core utah operations to bowie resources for 435 million in cash arch coal chapter 11 petition pdf . pacermonitor . pacermonitor . retrieved 9 may 2016 . jamasmie cecilia january 11 2016 . arch coal files for bankruptcy amid decline of us sector . mining . owner of colorado s biggest coal mine files for bankruptcy . denver business journal . january 11 2016 . chaney sarah . arch coal emerges from chapter 11 . wsj.com . the wall street journal . retrieved 6 october 2016 . coal companies are big political donors epa environmental impact statement now with bill moyers the cost of coal shear madness us news and world report http www.tlpj.org briefs mountpi.htm clines francis x. october 30 1999 . senator leads move to block ruling on strip mines . the new york times . forest service moves to permit bulldozing for dirty coal in colorado roadless forest . earthjustice . april 6 2015 . shogren elizabeth april 8 2015 . forest service sticks up for coal mining on roadless lands . high country news . dc dispatch . brown dylan 1 march 2016 . coal mine cleanup concerns spike as industry sputters . greenwire . retrieved 17 april 2016 . sanzillo