March 25, 2026 - The Pike County coal company that furloughed and laid off workers earlier this month has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Collections against Clintwood JOD LLC, which operates coal mines in Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, were temporarily frozen by a federal bankruptcy judge Monday, giving the company an opportunity to restructure its debts while it remains operating.

An affiliate mineral properties firm filed for bankruptcy alongside Clintwood JOD.

Clintwood JOD has more than 100 employees, according to state business records. That would usually require written notice 60 days before mass layoffs, but the company appears to be shielding itself under a waiver for unforeseeable circumstances. Temporary furlough letters employees first began posting on social media late last month were quickly replaced by permanent layoff notices in early March.

It remains unclear how many employees are affected by the layoffs.

The company, which reported assets ranging between $100 million and $500 million, faces more than $60 million in liabilities, according to court documents filed this week. Among the list of creditors owed are a New Jersey-based hedge fund with a $26.6 million stake in the company, $8.9 million tied up in equipment costs to a financial services broker and $3.4 million the company owes Kentucky in coal severance taxes.

More than 300 creditors were alerted in the company’s petition. Officials who signed the petition said they do not expect funds will be available for unsecured creditors once the company has reorganized its debts. A creditors meeting has been scheduled for April 16.

The company could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Rising production costs and intense competition from natural gas prices that have dropped significantly since the outset of fracking operations in and around Texas and Pennsylvania basins has precipitated a 50% coal production decline nationwide since 2008. President Donald Trump’s promises to revive the industry by propping up coal-fired plants and juicing domestic steel production have so far fallen short.

Clintwood JOD’s primary creditor is owned by a mergers and acquisitions firm that was one of three that landed reclamation fees and employee obligations formerly owned by mining giant Cambrian Coal after the company went belly-up in 2019, signaling more fallout from a pre-pandemic mining industry collapse that left hundreds of mountain miners without jobs.

Cambrian, Blackjewel LLC and Blackhawk Mining LLC all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that year, the same year Clintwood JOD formed and took over more than 72 million tons in unmined coal reserves.

The acquisition also left the company with outstanding environmental citations that blocked it from receiving mining permits. The Kentucky Energy and Environmental Cabinet remains one of the company’s creditors.

Yet, Clintwood JOD quickly moved to diversify its mining assets to serve steel, active carbon and ferroalloy producers and generate byproduct thermal coal for power plants. In Pike County alone, the company oversaw seven single-section deep mines and two surface mining operations feeding a preparation plant in Feds Creek.

Combined with another preparation plant in Virginia, the company oversaw 12 deep mines and four surface operations, which were expected to outperform competitors before the pandemic due to temporary disruptions in the coking coal market.