MIDDLESBORO - James River Coal Company (JRCC) announced yesterday that the agreement to sell the assets of its Bell County Coal Corporation subsidiary expired, according to a press release on the company's website.

James River Coal Company previously agreed to sell Bell County Coal to Weston Holdings, Inc. for $24.4 million.

The announcement of the expiration of the agreement follows a Feb. 1, 2007, news release indicating that, “The purchaser has confirmed its intent to complete the transaction on the original terms and has indicated that acceptable financing has been obtained. The purchaser has requested an extension which the Company has granted and the closing is expected to occur before February 28, 2007.”

According to this most recent news via the company's website, JRCC and the purchaser discussed extending the closing date, “contingent upon achievement of mutually agreed upon definitive milestones in the purchaser's financing and closing process and other conditions to assure a timely closing. However, the parties were not able to agree on these conditions. The parties may, or may not, continue these discussions in the future.”

Bell County Coal is located in Middlesboro and consists of two underground mines, Moseley Spur and Cabin Hollow, a coal preparation plant and an integrated four-hour unit train loadout. Last year, the Corporation shipped approximately 537,000 tons and has 11.9 million tons of coal in reserves.

Peter T. Socha, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of James River Coal Company, commented at the time of the previous announcement to sell Bell County Coal: "We believe that this transaction represents a good result for the shareholders of James River Coal, the employees and management of Bell County Coal, and the Weston Holdings organization."

The sale was to include practically all of the assets of Bell County Coal. Weston Holdings had indicated the intention to immediately hire substantially all of the employees of Bell County Coal.

In addition to the news that the agreement to sell Bell County Coal expired, James River Coal Company announced yesterday that it has completed the refinancing of its existing Senior Secured Debt facilities with new credit facilities with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., and GE Commercial Finance - Corporate Lending.

While the fate of Bell County Coal's ownership seems to be in litigation, James River Coal Corporation maintains the company currently as they have for many years.

Brandy L. Murray is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. She can be reached via e-mail at bmurray@middlesborodailynews.com.