The Seattle-based company confirmed it had retained Pittsburgh-based John T Boyd to serve as a technical advisor on its potential mining acquisitions.

The addition comes after L&L’s board made the decision to seek larger mining operations in North China.

The company’s management team, guided by longtime industry experts Yang Jingcai and Dr Syd Peng, have since identified targets with more than 1 million tons of annual coal capacity.

L&L and Boyd will work together to evaluate acquisition targets. This includes compliance with international JORC standards, which are not required under existing Chinese regulations.

“I am pleased with the engagement of Boyd to complement with our five-star team led by Dr Peng and Yang Jingcai,” chairman and chief executive officer Dickson Lee said.

“I look forward to working with BOYD to move our acquisition targets forward.”

The company announced early last month that it had opened the doors on another new footprint in the region, its China headquarters office in Beijing.

The event also marked the start of subsidiary Beijing L&L Jiang Energy Technology.

The company celebrated the April 22 opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Beijing’s Coal Tower.