The coal lease will give Arch the right to mine approximately 8,300 acres of state-owned minerals. The company now controls approximately 1.5 billion tons of coal in Montana’s Otter Creek area, including previous reserve additions such as the coal lease secured in November 2009 through Great Northern Properties.
Steven Leer, chairman and CEO of Arch, said: “We view the combined Otter Creek coal reserves as a strategic platform for future growth in the Northern Powder River Basin. The addition of the Montana state reserves further expands and strengthens our position while affording us greater flexibility in future site development.
“As previously stated, we believe these Northern PRB reserves will help us competitively serve U.S. power producers, supply additional coal for export to emerging Asia or possibly house the site of a future coal-conversion facility.”
