Cobalt Coal Seeks Dismissal Of Lawsuit

{Charleston, West Virginia}...Cobalt Coal, the operator of the mine featured on Spike TV’s reality show "Coal," has filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Charleston, asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit over mining royalties. Encoal Energy and Gopher Land Services sued Cobalt last month, saying they’d signed an agreement with Cobalt in 2010 that gave them 4 percent of the average gross sales price per ton of coal sold, as long as that price remained under $95 per ton. Some months, they say Cobalt made those payments. In others, the payments were made by Westchester Coal LP. But, in May, the payments stopped. Cobalt Coal says federal courts lack jurisdiction because the companies involved are all in West Virginia and that Encoal and Gopher agreed to binding arbitration to resolve disputes.