Regional, national, and international clients turn to the Environmental and Natural Resources attorneys of Stites & Harbison for cutting-edge advice on business and legal issues related to transactions, mining and selling coal and other extractive products, and related taxation. Clients include those engaged in mining, producing, transporting and selling energy resources such as coal, waste coal, oil and gas, and in the hardrock production of limestone, sand and gravel. We also provide legal advice on mining and related regulatory aspects of natural resources. For information on those areas please see our section Mining & Natural Resources.
Transactions
Buying and selling mining operations, equipment, or related real property requires a comprehensive approach to the interaction of the law of mineral interests and the multiple state and federal laws that regulate mining. The firm’s attorneys have counseled clients on transactions throughout the Appalachian coal fields from Tennessee to Pennsylvania, in western Kentucky, and in the Illinois and Powder River Basins. Our broad perspective serves our clients well as they negotiate sales to maximize opportunities and limit risks.
Recent examples of our representations in this area include:
- Counseled developer of waste coal facility for sale and processing of slurry and coarse refuse in legacy site.
- Advised seller of Powder River Basin operations on permitting and bonding requirements and lead negotiations with state and federal regulators.
- Conducted due diligence for permitting, reclamation bonding, and compliance issues on Appalachian operations involving metallurgical coal.
- Advised limestone producers on acquisitions of reserves and on acquisition, permitting, and sale of operations.
- Negotiated transaction documents for sale of surface mining, underground mining, processing, and waste facilities in eastern Kentucky.
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Represented buyer in due diligence and regulatory aspects of transaction for purchase of multi-state operations in Appalachia.
Coal Supply Contracts
Our attorneys have represented both coal producers and coal consumers (primarily utilities) in negotiating and drafting coal supply contracts. We also litigate coal supply contract disputes in state and federal courts, including bankruptcy courts, and arbitration tribunals.
Our group's attorneys have...
- Represented an Appalachian coal producer against Cogentrix, Inc. regarding a "requirements" coal supply contract that resulted in a favorable arbitration award for the client of more than $8 million.
- Counseled a large eastern, investor-owned utility and a regional generation cooperative on the largest bankruptcy of a coal supplier in the country, Horizon Natural Resources, and its pre-petition and post-petition failures to perform various coal supply agreements with those utilities.
- Represented a coal company against a South Carolina utility regarding its alleged failure to perform a coal supply agreement.
- Drafted amendments and revisions on behalf of a supplier with DTE, TVA, VEPCO, Southern Company Services and various other utilities and industrial users.
- Represented private parties in numerous disputes on coal supply contracts, marketing and sales contracts, and the renegotiation of unfavorable agreements.
The group's depth of experience in the coal and utility industries is a practical plus. No problem with a coal supply contract is too large or too small for Stites & Harbison to bring added value to the client in resolving a dispute before it happens or in bringing an "outside the box" approach to satisfy both the coal supplier and coal user under such a contract.
Transportation
Stites & Harbison's attorneys continue to follow coal and minerals after their extraction through their transportation, trading and use. The group's attorneys have...
- Negotiated and drafted transportation agreements for the movement of mineral cargos, including dock and barge fleeting agreements.
- Represented mining companies and mineral lessors in the evaluation of mineral transportation costs and agreements, as well as the deduction of these costs from the mineral owner's revenue share of production.
- Drafted and negotiated complex coal preparation, processing and loading agreements between producers and owners of coal processing facilities.
- Represented a large energy and coal trading company in the breach of a coal shipping and through-put agreement at a dock on the Big Sandy River.
- Represented a multi-state coal producer in the successful capture of a processing and "through-put" fee for a large West Virginia coal preparation facility.
- Represented another large energy company in the negotiation of a lease for a sizeable coal loading facility on the Big Sandy River.
Often Stites & Harbison's attorneys will negotiate coal supply contracts in connection with its work for clients with regard to coal transportation. We work almost daily with key regulatory officials, producers, purchasers, traders, trade association executives, legislators and their staffs at the State and national levels.