Cloud Peak, facing own problems, hires some Blackjewel miners

CASPER — As coal operator Blackjewel LLC went to battle in bankruptcy court last week, another Powder River Basin company quietly contended with its own financial troubles.

Cloud Peak Energy filed for bankruptcy in May and is one of six coal companies enmeshed in bankruptcy proceedings in Wyoming. The coal operator owns three mines — Antelope and Cordero Rojo in Wyoming and Spring Creek in Montana — and owes $400 million in outstanding debt. Even so, the company reportedly hired a number of workers from the closed Blackjewel mines.

In the latest developments from court, the final day...