Commitments and Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Environmental Matters Walter Coke, Inc. item	Jun. 30, 2012 Environmental Matters Maple Coal Company	Jan. 31, 2011 Environmental Matters Maple Coal Company item	Dec. 31, 2011 Environmental Matters Maple Coal Company	Jan. 31, 2011 Environmental Matters Maple Coal Company Minimum	Dec. 31, 2011 Environmental Matters Jim Walter Resources, Inc	Nov. 30, 2011 Environmental Matters Jim Walter Resources, Inc	Dec. 31, 2012 Environmental Matters Jim Walter Resources, Inc	Jan. 31, 2012 Securities Class Actions and Shareholder Derivative Actions item	Nov. 30, 2009 Securities Class Actions and Shareholder Derivative Actions item	Dec. 31, 2012 Securities Class Actions and Shareholder Derivative Actions item	May 31, 2012 Securities Class Actions and Shareholder Derivative Actions Western Coal Corp item	Dec. 31, 2012 Securities Class Actions and Shareholder Derivative Actions Western Coal Corp	Dec. 31, 2012 Other: Ridley Terminals Inc. Western Coal Corp Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Other: Alabama State Port Authority Transportation and throughput agreements
Commitments and contingencies
Number of properties that the entity has agreed to remediate				23
Penalty sought								$ 14,000,000	$ 60,000
Civil penalties							229,350
Attorny's fees and expenses					103,000
Number of environmental interest groups filing Clean Water Act citizen's suit						3
Litigation settlement fine										145,200
Remediation cost incurred											5,000,000
Number of executive directors as defendants												3
Number of actions															2
Number of complaints														3
Number of non-executive directors as defendants													3
General damages entitled to recover																200,000,000
Punitive damages entitled to recover																20,000,000
Loss contingency, liability recorded																	2,500,000	5,100,000
Lease Obligations
Total cost of assets under capital leases	45,400,000	118,800,000
Accumulated amortization on assets under capital leases	14,500,000	16,800,000
Rent expense	18,100,000	21,000,000	13,700,000
Capitalized Leases
2013	12,333,000
2014	8,815,000
2015	6,133,000
2016	64,000
Total	27,345,000
Less: amount representing interest and other executory costs	(2,016,000)
Present value of minimum lease payments	25,329,000
Operating Leases
2013	12,812,000
2014	9,051,000
2015	3,068,000
2016	2,647,000
2017	2,551,000
Thereafter	1,766,000
Total	31,895,000
Coal royalty expense	$ 116,300,000	$ 111,500,000	$ 88,800,000