Biggest US coal miner on brink of bankruptcy

New York

WELCOME to the twilight of American coal.

Peabody Energy Corp, the nation's biggest miner, is on the verge of bankruptcy, crippled by US$6.3 billion in debt. The company's announcement on Wednesday that it may file sent a decisive signal to the market: The US coal industry is still too big.

"It's the end of the era of publicly traded coal companies," said Ted O'Brien, chief executive officer of Doyle Trading Consultants, an energy markets research group.

Peabody has lost 98 per cent of its market value in 12 months and watched…