Western Coal

About Western Coal

Western Coal Corp. was a Canadian producer of metallurgical and thermal coal with operations in British Columbia, West Virginia, and South Wales (UK). The company, formerly known as Western Canadian Coal, was founded in 1997 and headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

The company's primary products were high-quality metallurgical (coking) coal for the global steel industry and compliant thermal coal for power generation. Its Canadian operations included the Perry Creek, Brule, and Willow Creek mines in northeast British Columbia. In the United States, its West Virginia mines included the Eagle underground mine and the Sycamore open-cut mine.

In December 2008, Western Canadian Coal merged with its largest shareholder, U.K.-based Cambrian Mining, in a deal valued at approximately $52 million. Following the merger, in 2010, the company's President and CEO was Keith Calder. On April 1, 2011, Walter Energy Inc. acquired Western Coal for approximately C$3.3 billion, creating what was then the world's largest publicly-traded, "pure-play" metallurgical coal producer. The acquisition provided Walter Energy with strategic access to Asian markets through Western Coal's Canadian mines.