According to the Associated Press, the Montana Land Board endorsed the lease of additional coal contained on state lands to the complex near Roundup. The plan also has received the thumbs-up from Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer earlier this week.

The tracts, which neighbor the 300-employee longwall operation and are in the path of its growth, would be in addition to federal coal parcels Signal Peak recently leased from the US Bureau of Land Management.

A timeline for the bid process was not available, but the AP noted the state’s Department of Natural Resources estimated it could take in $US15 million during the period of the mining performed in the state lease area.

The operator has not released a public statement on the state’s move.

After two federal auctions, the first of which included a failed bid that fell below agency expectations, Signal Peak was successful in leasing 35.5 million tons from the BLM in March.

Its $10.65 million bid, equating to 30 cents per recoverable ton, was accepted in a US Bureau of Land Management lease auction after an initial $5.3 million bid in November 2011 was rejected.

Signal Peak and its operating subsidiary, Bull Mountain, are owned by Boich and First Energy as well as the Gunvor Group.