Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Revenues	$ 2,573,260	$ 2,937,119	$ 3,014,357
Costs, expenses and other operating
Cost of sales (exclusive of items shown separately below)	2,206,433	2,566,193	2,663,136
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	379,345	418,748	426,442
Amortization of acquired sales contracts, net	(8,811)	(13,187)	(9,457)
Change in fair value of coal derivatives and coal trading activities, net	(1,583)	(3,686)	7,845
Asset impairment and mine closure costs	2,628,303	24,113	220,879
Goodwill impairment	0	0	265,423
Losses from disposed operations resulting from Patriot Coal bankruptcy	116,343	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	98,783	114,223	133,448
Other operating expense (income), net	19,510	(19,754)	(30,218)
Total operating expenses	5,438,323	3,086,650	3,677,498
Loss from operations	(2,865,063)	(149,531)	(663,141)
Interest expense, net
Interest expense	(397,979)	(390,946)	(381,267)
Interest and investment income	4,430	7,758	6,603
Interest expense, net	(393,549)	(383,188)	(374,664)
Nonoperating expense
Net loss resulting from early retirement of debt and debt restructuring	(27,910)	0	(42,921)
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes	(3,286,522)	(532,719)	(1,080,726)
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	(373,380)	25,634	(335,498)
Loss from continuing operations	(2,913,142)	(558,353)	(745,228)
Income from discontinued operations, including gain on sale - net of tax	0	0	103,396
Net loss	$ (2,913,142)	$ (558,353)	$ (641,832)
Losses per common share
Basic and diluted LPS- Loss from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ (136.86)	$ (26.31)	$ (35.15)
Basic and diluted LPS - Net loss (in dollars per share)	$ (136.86)	$ (26.31)	$ (30.26)
Weighted average shares outstanding
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding	21,285	21,222	21,210
Dividends declared per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0.1	$ 1.2