Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 735,971	$ 737,370
Costs, expenses and other operating[Abstract]
Cost of sales (exclusive of items shown separately below)	686,314	649,743
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	104,423	110,193
Amortization of acquired sales contracts, net	(3,696)	(2,810)
Change in fair value of coal derivatives and coal trading activities, net	914	1,308
Selling, general and administrative expenses	29,136	33,209
Other operating income, net	(7,998)	(2,842)
Total operating expenses	809,093	788,801
Loss from operations	(73,122)	(51,431)
Interest expense, net
Interest expense	(96,471)	(95,074)
Interest and investment income	1,843	2,836
Interest expense, net	(94,628)	(92,238)
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes	(167,750)	(143,669)
Benefit from income taxes	(43,611)	(59,353)
Loss from continuing operations	(124,139)	(84,316)
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	14,267
Net loss	$ (124,139)	$ (70,049)
Loss from continuing operations
Basic and diluted loss per common share (usd per share)	$ (0.59)	$ (0.40)
Net loss
Diluted loss per common share (usd per share)	$ (0.59)	$ (0.33)
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding	212,171	212,062
Dividends declared per common share	$ 0.01	$ 0.03