The company, a subsidiary of West Virginia coal operator International Coal Group, said the approvals will “substantially expand” its capabilities, and it will look at the key coalfields of China, Russia and South Africa for growth.

ICG Addcar purchased the rights from Addington International for an unspecified amount.

The company can now build and market its machines in North America as well as South America, Africa, Europe and most of Asia.

"The purchase of these international patent rights opens a number of new markets to ICG Addcar for the sale of its unique highwall mining technology," ICG chief executive Ben Hatfield said.

The highwall miner producer has three available mining system types, from its standard unit to a narrow bench unit, as well as its newly developed steep-dip mining unit planned for deployment in British Columbia later this year.

Each unit can horizontally penetrate seams to a depth of 1600 feet and extract from seam heights of 3ft to 30ft.

In addition to the Addcar division, ICG also operates 13 active coal complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin region.

For a case study highlighting Addcar’s highwall miner success at US complex Vigo Coal, check out the August edition of Coal USA Magazine, out now.