KCP Inc has a 50% stake in the Decker Coal Company in southern Montana and the Black Butte Coal Company in Wyoming, and certain operational responsibilities in respect of those mines.

Current production at the mines is approximately 6 million tonnes in total per annum. Additionally, KCP owns a 100% interest in the remaining reserves of the Big Horn Coal Company and the Rosebud Coal Sales Company.

Ambre chief executive Edek Choros said: “Even before that purchase, the company had been keen to acquire KCP, after some years of evaluating various coal mining assets.

“Our plan is to build a vertically integrated business, including the sale of US thermal coal to customers in Asia and Europe.”

The acquisition of KCP was partly financed through an equity investment in Ambre Energy by Resource Capital Funds, a mining focused private equity firm based in Denver, Colorado.

“We are very pleased to have such a well-respected investor as RCF,” Choros said.

“We particularly welcome RCF partner Ross Bhappu as an Ambre Energy director as he brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our board.”

Both of the KCP operating mines, as well as Ambre’s US export terminal development sites, are connected by a rail network serviced by a number of rail companies.

Ambre Energy Limited is proposing an IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange in the second quarter of 2012.