Atlantic Coal (LON:ATC) with activities in Pennsylvania, USA, will not be buying a 158 acre anthracite property in Luzerne County, it emerged today.
Managing director Steve Best said: "We have a stringent evaluation procedure in place to ensure that we find the right projects to fit our investment criteria.
"Initially the asset looked promising but following due diligence, a number of issues arose, which led to our decision not to proceed any further with the asset and to take refund of our US$700,000 deposit."
"We raised £12 million on the back of our aggressive strategy to act as a regional consolidator in the Pennsylvanian Coal Fields, and this transaction is one of many that we have been evaluating.
He said he was confident the firm had the right team and a healthy balance sheet in place to build a significant multi-project operation.
In March the comopany announced it had secured an option to buy the property.
It is part of the bankruptcy estate of Kenneth Nowakowski. It has placed US$700,000 in escrow pending the completion of the process.
Accordingly, the company announced today that the US$700,000, which has been held in escrow by the Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court since the option was secured, has been returned to the firm in line with the terms of the order.
Atlantic remains committed to its growth strategy of acting as a regional consolidator to extend its resource base in Pennsylvania where the ompany has increased production capacity at its primary asset, the Stockton Colliery.