March 19, 2021 - An amended consolidated complaint was filed.

September 28, 2020 - An investor in shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by Peabody Energy Corporation in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between April 3, 2017 and October 28, 2019.

St. Louis, MO based Peabody Energy Corporation engages in coal mining business. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal Mining, Seaborne Metallurgical Mining, Powder River Basin Mining, Midwestern U.S. Mining, Western U.S. Mining, and Corporate and Other segments. One of its mines in Australia is the North Goonyella mine, which was acquired by Peabody in 2004 and through which the Company ships coal to customers in India, China and South Korea.

On September 28, 2018, a fire erupted at the mine, forcing Peabody to suspend operations indefinitely. On February 6, 2019, Peabody Energy Corporation revealed that contrary to previous statements, production at the North Goonyella mine would not resume in 2019, but was instead now targeted to begin to ramp in the early months of 2020.

On this news, Peabody shares fell by $3.80 per share, or 10.6%.

On May 1, 2019, Peabody Energy Corporation reported that it had received a directive from the Queensland Mines Inspectorate which could lead to further delays and necessitate a re-evaluation of the Company’s re-entry plan. On this news, Peabody shares fell $1.61 per share, or 5.6%.

On July 31, 2019, Peabody Energy Corporation reported additional delays to the reentry of North Goonyella, explaining that the Queensland Mines Inspectorate’s requirements had resulted in a slower rate of progress than Peabody’s initial plan had contemplated. As a result, Peabody suspended its 2020 production guidance at the mine and informed investors that it was reevaluating its entire reentry plan.

On August 9, 2019, the Queensland Mines Inspectorate released a one-page document with its preliminary investigative findings indicating that Peabody Energy Corporation had deficient safety systems at North Goonyella and that the Company was not cooperating fully with its investigation.

On October 29, 2019, Peabody Energy Corporation disclosed that the Queensland Mines Inspectorate was placing strict restrictions on restarting operations at the North Goonyella mine and that as a result Peabody was forced to drastically adjust its reentry plan, ultimately announcing a three year or more delay before any meaningful coal could be produced. Shares of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) declined from $47.84 per share in June 2018 to as low as $8.65 per share on November 19, 2019.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) common shares between April 3, 2017 and October 28, 2019, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws.

More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between April 3, 2017 and October 28, 2019, the defendants failed to disclose, and would continue to omit, the following adverse facts pertaining to the safety practices at the Company’s North Goonyella mine, which were known to or recklessly disregarded by Defendants the Company had failed to implement adequate safety controls at the North Goonyella mine to prevent the risk of a spontaneous combustion event, the the Company failed to follow its own safety procedures, and as a result, the North Goonyella mine was at a heightened risk of shutdown. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants failed to disclose, and would continue to omit, the following adverse facts pertaining to the feasibility of Peabody’s plan to restart the North Goonyella mine the Company’s low-cost plan to restart operations at the mine posed unreasonable safety and environmental risks, the Australian body responsible for ensuring acceptable health and safety standards, the Queensland Mines Inspectorate, would likely mandate a safer, cost-prohibitive approach, and as a result, there would be major delays in reopening the North Goonyella mine and restarting coal production.