The company said Bolton would join CanAm in the next couple of months as he transitioned his current responsibilities.

Chief executive officer Tim Bergen will remain in his role.

“Since late 2009, CanAm has repositioned itself as a coal producer and the company has embarked on an aggressive growth strategy,” chairman Jonathan Legg said.

He said CanAm was working towards an estimated production target of 500,000 tons this year on its way to becoming a 3 million tons per annum producer via organic growth and acquisitions.

“In order to achieve this goal, we had to expand our management and executive capabilities with another senior and experienced individual who can add significant value and bring additional credibility to CanAm's impressive growth story,” Legg said.

Bolton is currently a senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he leads the accounting firm’s energy practice and is a senior member of PwC’s global energy, utilities and mining leadership team.

CanAm owns four coal operations in Alabama as well as the Buick coal project in Colorado, which has 188 million tons indicated and 103Mt inferred resources.