Consol officials said Monday that the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 had expired without issue.

The deal’s closing was still subject to the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, the producer said.

“Consol Energy anticipates closing the transaction in the next few weeks,” it said.

Murray Energy’s purchase of Consol’s Consolidation Coal subsidiary, including the McElroy, Shoemaker, Robinson Run, Loveridge and Blacksville No. 2 longwall mines, was first announced October 28.

The deal, worth $US3.5 billion, also includes Consol’s river and dock operations, a fleet of 21 towboats and 600 barges.

In all, Murray is taking over about 1.1 billion short tons of reserves from the massive and bountiful Pittsburgh No. 8.

Consol officials called the sale a “transformative step” in the advancement of its exploration and production growth strategy through its CNX Gas business, but said it was still not an easy choice.

“While this transaction furthers CONSOL's E&P growth strategy … the sale of these five mines – assets that have long contributed to America's economic strength and our company's legacy – was a very difficult decision for our team,” chairman and chief executive officer J Brett Harvey said.

Murray Energy officials did not comment to ILN on the HSR clearance Tuesday, but president and chief executive officer Robert Murray said in October that it intends to preserve Consol’s “well-earned legacy” in the industry.

“No company has developed a better legacy with its employees, with its customers, with the financial markets, with the regulatory agencies, or with the public in general, over many decades, than has Consol and Consolidation Coal,” he said.