August 30, 2022, US Bankruptcy Court for Southern West Virginia – The Blackjewel Liquidating Trust begins an adversary proceeding against Kopper Glo Mining, LLC and INMET Mining, LLC (“Defendants”) in the bankruptcy case of Blackjewel, LLC, et al. (“Debtors”). The purpose of the action is to obtain a declaratory judgment against the Defendants to establish the Defendants’ obligations under the alleged agreements and to obtain damages from the Defendants for their alleged breach of these agreements.

The complaint alleges that the Defendants allegedly entered into royalty and assignment agreements with the Debtors to purchase the Black Mountain and Lone Mountain mining operations and assets in Harlan County, Kentucky; Letcher County, Kentucky; and Wise County, Virginia. The Trust claims that the Defendants are allegedly obligated to pay to the Trust “royalties, liabilities, and employee-related costs” under the agreements. The agreements allegedly require the Defendants to furnish the Trust with “regular reports” setting forth the gross production and fair market value of the operation of the purchased mines.

The Trust alleges that the Defendants have allegedly refused to furnish the reports since the second quarter of 2020 and allegedly failed to make the required payments. The Trust contends that the alleged refusal and failure amounted to breaches of the agreements. The complaint claims $17,688,298.52 in royalties; $826,304.18 of assumed liabilities; and $1,020,000, of employee-related costs aggregating into the sum of $19,534,602.70 at the date of the complaint.

The complaint alleges that the Defendants’ breaches allegedly caused the Trust to incur at least $187,808.02 in legal fees and expenses and $49,000 of other fees and seeks to recover these amounts as damages.

Blackjewel Liquidating Trust v. Kopper Glo Mining, LLC, et al. (In re Blackjewel, LLC, et al.), AP No. 22-03001, US Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of West Virginia