According to a court filing posted to the company’s case administration web site Friday, the hearing will now be held January 29 at 10am in St Louis, Missouri.

Another court date to appoint an official retiree committee in the case is set for February 26.

The hearing will be the first to be heard in US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Patriot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 9 in the Southern District of New York, but a judge ordered a case transfer/change of venue last November.

The case is now assigned to US Bankruptcy Court judge Kathy Surratt-States.

United Mine Workers of America president Cecil Roberts said late last year that the court made the right call moving the hearing for the Missouri-based producer.

“Nobody has ever mined one ounce of coal in Manhattan,” he said.

“Patriot Coal executives set up two dummy corporations in New York because they wanted their case heard in a forum far from the coal fields.

“St Louis is where Patriot Coal is headquartered. More important, it’s the headquarters for Peabody Energy and Arch Coal.

“These two companies spun off their operations to Patriot in an attempt to run away from pension and health care obligations to thousands of miners and their survivors.”

When Patriot filed for bankruptcy in July, it blamed cancelled contracts, rising costs and plummeting coal prices for its woes. It tried reducing production, but that proved unsuccessful.

It has since delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.