The agreement will ensure Cobalt mining rights in five separate tracts of land, each containing at least four seams of metallurgical coal.

The company says the new holdings offer potential to commence “multiple” mines.

The news comes just two weeks after property acquisitions in Kentucky and Virginia, including part of Virginia’s 1600-acre Mill Creek tract which in now completely under the Cobalt’s control.

The Mill Creek tract has been permitted for production and the construction of a wash plant, a move Cobalt president and chief executive Mike Crowder said was a major accomplishment.

“One must keep in mind how difficult it is now to obtain regulatory approval for a wash plant and therefore how valuable this component of the acquisition is,” he said.

“We look forward to quickly putting the first of numerous mines into production on these new lands.”

The company said it could already begin infrastructure improvements at Mill Creek which would allow metallurgical coal production to begin by the closing of the property lease transactions.

Cobalt is a TSX-listed explorer and producer, headquartered in Calgary with a regional office in Welch, West Virginia.