Arch Coal Inc. and ADA-ES Inc. have announced that Arch plans to invest $3 million in ADA to fund near-term growth opportunities. 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 company spun-out as a separate public entity.

"As part of our commitment to clean energy, we are pleased to provide this additional investment in ADA, a leader in developing clean coal technology,” said John Eaves, Arch's president and chief operating officer, who has served on the ADA Board of Directors since 2004. “We believe helping finance advanced technologies developed by ADA will enhance the environmental performance of our coals."

ADA has been successful at developing technologies that improve the performance of coals from Wyoming's Powder River Basin ("PRB"). In addition to flue gas conditioning chemicals used to aid in the collection of ash from PRB coals, the company also developed a cost-effective brominated activated carbon technology that provides a means of achieving 90% removal of mercury emissions from PRB coals and CyClean technology, a proprietary coal additive that improves combustion of PRB coals in cyclone boilers resulting in enhanced efficiency and reduced emissions of mercury and nitrogen oxides. For the past several years, ADA has worked with Arch to explore certain unique characteristics of some of their coals that allow them to be burned with lower mercury emissions.

"This investment will continue our long-standing relationship with Arch and allow the company to fund opportunities that have the potential for significant near-term increases in revenues and earnings such as CyClean,” said Mike Durham, ADA president and CEO. “As Congress is considering a year extension to the Section 45 tax credits, we want to be in a position to respond quickly to sell and install additional CyClean systems to produce refined coal."

ADA-ES is a leader in clean coal technology and the associated specialty chemicals. The company develops and implements proprietary environmental technology and specialty chemicals that enable coal-fueled power plants to enhance existing air pollution control equipment, maximize capacity, and improve operating efficiencies. For more information, visit www.adaes.com.

St. Louis-based Arch Coal is the second largest U.S. coal producer, with revenues of $2.6 billion in 2009. Through its national network of mines, Arch supplies cleaner-burning, low-sulfur coal to U.S. power producers to fuel roughly eight percent of the nation's electricity. The company also ships coal to domestic and international steel manufacturers as well as international power producers. For more information, visit www.archcoal.com.