New Contura CEO a restructuring expert with a $1M salary

David Stetson, Contura Energy’s new CEO, stands to earn a $1 million salary, with the potential for a $450,000 bonus, and other valuable benefits in his first year of employment according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contura Energy is meanwhile maneuvering in a bankruptcy court to reacquire two shuttered Wyoming coal mines it offloaded two years ago.

Stetson is experienced in managing struggling coal companies, according to industry press and various coal company statements. He’s shepherded several coal companies, including Alpha Natural Resources, through bankruptcy and its immediate aftermath. Alpha created Contura during its 2016 bankruptcy restructuring and spun its Wyoming mines onto the offshoot’s balance sheet.

Contura then sold those mines — Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr — to Blackjewel for no profit, in order to escape from financial obligations associated with the mines’ end of life, particularly mine reclamation obligations of nearly $230 million. But a state permitting challenge by the Powder River Basin Resource Council held-up up the deal and Blackjewel crashed into bankruptcy before the transfer was complete.

Read more: https://www.wyofile.com/new-contura-ceo-a-restructuring-expert-with-a-1m-salary/