The five-year surface mining permit covers 178 acres.

Knight neighbors the existing Bear Creek mine and both share coal with the same qualities and characteristics.

A proximate analysis has indicated, on average, 12% ash, 0.7% sulfur and 11,500 British thermal units per pound.

These values are consistent with the assays reported from drilling, mine face sampling and product deliveries.

CanAm hopes to start production next month, with an expected annual productive capacity of 180,000 tons per annum.

“We are excited about our new Knight mine permit as it will allows us to further expand our mining operations, increase our production of high quality thermal coal and continue to meet our customer commitments,” CanAm vice-president Tom Lewis said.

“This is our second new permit in the last three months. The Old Union II permit was obtained in August 2012, and we are expecting to receive our Posey Mill II permit in the next couple of weeks.”

CanAm's also owns the Buick coal project in Colorado, which has 188 million tons indicated and 103 million tons inferred resources.