Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 428,106	$ 677,005
Costs, expenses and other operating
Cost of sales (exclusive of items shown separately below)	419,316	562,322
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	63,699	104,874
Amortization of acquired sales contracts, net	(833)	(3,390)
Change in fair value of coal derivatives and coal trading activities, net	1,210	1,220
Asset impairment and mine closure costs	85,520	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	19,826	22,605
Other operating (income) expense, net	(2,220)	9,086
Total operating expenses	586,518	696,717
Loss from operations	(158,412)	(19,712)
Interest expense, net
Interest expense (contractual interest of $98,565 in 2016)	(44,451)	(99,252)
Interest and investment income	1,138	2,373
Interest expense, net	(43,313)	(96,879)
Loss before nonoperating expenses	(201,725)	(116,591)
Nonoperating expenses
Expenses related to proposed debt restructuring	(2,213)	0
Reorganization items, net	(3,875)	0
Nonoperating income (expense)	(6,088)	0
Loss before income taxes	(207,813)	(116,591)
Benefit from income taxes	(1,111)	(3,396)
Net loss	$ (206,702)	$ (113,195)
Net loss per common share
Basic and diluted LPS - Net loss (usd per share)	$ (9.71)	$ (5.32)
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding (shares)	21,293	21,266