Goodwill	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Goodwill	Goodwill During the second quarter of 2012, a significant drop in the Company’s stock price, 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 performed the first step of the two-step goodwill impairment test as of June 30, 2012. The fair values of the reporting units were determined using a discounted cash flow (“DCF”) technique. A number of significant assumptions and estimates were 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 market demand for thermal coal. The further weakening in thermal coal markets 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, which involves determining the value of Black Thunder’s assets and liabilities. The Company is in the process of completing this valuation. 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, the Company recorded a preliminary impairment charge for the entire $115.8 million carrying value of Black Thunder's goodwill during the second quarter of 2012. The goodwill amounts allocated to certain reporting units in the Company’s Appalachia segment are sensitive to volatility in the demand for metallurgical coal. Should metallurgical coal markets weaken from the estimates used in the first step of the impairment test, affecting the estimates of 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.

Goodwill

During the second quarter of 2012, a significant drop in the Company’s stock price, 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 performed the first step of the two-step goodwill impairment test as of June 30, 2012. The fair values of the reporting units were determined using a discounted cash flow (“DCF”) technique. A number of significant assumptions and estimates were 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 market demand for thermal coal. The further weakening in thermal coal markets 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, which involves determining the value of Black Thunder’s assets and liabilities. The Company is in the process of completing this valuation. 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, the Company recorded a preliminary impairment charge for the entire $115.8 million carrying value of Black Thunder's goodwill during the second quarter of 2012.

The goodwill amounts allocated to certain reporting units in the Company’s Appalachia segment are sensitive to volatility in the demand for metallurgical coal. Should metallurgical coal markets weaken from the estimates used in the first step of the impairment test, affecting the estimates of 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.