Financial details and other terms of the deal were not disclosed. Walter initially purchased the operations in 2010 for $3.3 billion and idled them in 2014.
Walter officials said the new owner intends to resume operations at Brule, which produces high-demand PCI coal, first — “in the near future,” according to the company — with the others to follow in 2017. Brule and Wolverine will employ about 200 workers each.
The sale of the assets was approved by order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia on August 16, and this sale to Conuma represents the successful conclusion of the Canadian assets sale of Walter Energy Canada’s sale and investment solicitation process that it first began in January.
Walter’s Canadian and United Kingdom holdings were not part of Walter Energy’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last July. Walter Energy Canada said on September 7 that it will pursue a deal for its U.K. assets.
Conuma Coal Resources is an affiliate of ERP Compliant Fuels, established in 2015, and the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF).
Another arm of ERP, Seneca Coal Resources, acquired Cliff Natural Resources’ Pinnacle and Oak Grove mines in Alabama last December. Earlier this year, the company purchased Walter Energy’s Gauley Eagle and Maple operations in West Virginia and the Walter Coke and Taft mines in Alabama for $1 plus liability assumption.
