St. Louis-based Arch Coal, Inc, the US' second largest coal producer, and Littleton, Colorado-based ADA-ES (ADA), Inc., a clean coal technology company with focus on specialty chemicals, on March 25 announced that Arch Coal plans to invest $3 million in ADA to fund near-term growth opportunities.
According to an Arch Coal press release, the first step of the investment was completed on March 23 with the purchase of 143,885 shares of ADA for $1 million. The remaining $2 million is consideration for an exclusive license to use ADA's technology to provide environmental benefits for coals mined by Arch that are used to produce electricity. The license is currently being negotiated to define the royalty structure and is expected to be finalized in the next month.
Arch has been a significant shareholder of ADA since 2003, when the latter was spun off as a separate public entity from Earth Sciences, Inc.