Goodwill	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2012
Goodwill [Abstract]
Goodwill	5. Goodwill A significant drop in the Company’s stock price during the second quarter of 2012, combined with continuing weak demand for thermal coal during the quarter and the Company’s resulting production cuts, indicated that the fair value of the Company’s goodwill could be less than its carrying value. Accordingly, the Company has performed the first step of the two-step goodwill impairment test as of June 30, 2012. The fair values of the reporting units are determined using a discounted cash flow ("DCF") technique. A number of significant assumptions and estimates are involved in the application of the DCF analysis to forecast operating cash flows, including the discount rate and projections of sales volumes, selling prices and costs to produce. The value of the Company’s Black Thunder reporting unit in the Powder River Basin, where $115.8 million of goodwill had been allocated, is sensitive to thermal market demand. The further weakening in thermal coal markets in the second quarter significantly impacted the projected demand for and pricing of coal produced at Black Thunder. In step one of the goodwill impairment testing, the fair value of the Black Thunder reporting unit did not exceed its carrying value, primarily due to the impact of lower demand on near term sales volumes and pricing. The second step of the test requires that we determine the fair value of Black Thunder’s goodwill. This will involve determining the value of Black Thunder’s assets and liabilities. Based on initial estimates of the fair values of the assets and liabilities and the deficit of the fair value when compared to the related book values, we recorded a preliminary write-off of the entire $115.8 million of goodwill allocated to the Black Thunder reporting unit during the second quarter of 2012. The goodwill amounts allocated to certain reporting units in the Company’s Appalachia segment are particularly sensitive to volatility in the demand for metallurgical coal. Should metallurgical coal markets weaken, affecting the volumes and pricing of metallurgical coal from the Company’s operations, it could cause the fair value of the reporting units to be less than their carrying value, requiring us to perform step 2 of the test for impairment.

A significant drop in the Company’s stock price during the second quarter of 2012, combined with continuing weak demand for thermal coal during the quarter and the Company’s resulting production cuts, indicated that the fair value of the Company’s goodwill could be less than its carrying value. Accordingly, the Company has performed the first step of the two-step goodwill impairment test as of June 30, 2012. The fair values of the reporting units are determined using a discounted cash flow ("DCF") technique. A number of significant assumptions and estimates are involved in the application of the DCF analysis to forecast operating cash flows, including the discount rate and projections of sales volumes, selling prices and costs to produce.

The value of the Company’s Black Thunder reporting unit in the Powder River Basin, where $115.8 million of goodwill had been allocated, is sensitive to thermal market demand. The further weakening in thermal coal markets in the second quarter significantly impacted the projected demand for and pricing of coal produced at Black Thunder. In step one of the goodwill impairment testing, the fair value of the Black Thunder reporting unit did not exceed its carrying value, primarily due to the impact of lower demand on near term sales volumes and pricing. The second step of the test requires that we determine the fair value of Black Thunder’s goodwill. This will involve determining the value of Black Thunder’s assets and liabilities. Based on initial estimates of the fair values of the assets and liabilities and the deficit of the fair value when compared to the related book values, we recorded a preliminary write-off of the entire $115.8 million of goodwill allocated to the Black Thunder reporting unit during the second quarter of 2012.

The goodwill amounts allocated to certain reporting units in the Company’s Appalachia segment are particularly sensitive to volatility in the demand for metallurgical coal. Should metallurgical coal markets weaken, affecting the volumes and pricing of metallurgical coal from the Company’s operations, it could cause the fair value of the reporting units to be less than their carrying value, requiring us to perform step 2 of the test for impairment.