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Arch said Thursday it was the successful bidder for the state coal lease.
The company’s one-time bonus bid for the lease is payable next month.
The coal lease will give Arch the right to mine about 8300 acres of state-owned minerals.
Arch now controls about 1.5 billion tons of coal in Montana's Otter Creek area, including previous reserve additions such as the coal lease secured in November 2009 through Great Northern Properties.
"We view the combined Otter Creek coal reserves as a strategic platform for future growth in the northern Powder River Basin," Arch chief executive officer Steven F Leer said.
"The addition of the Montana state reserves further expands and strengthens our position while affording us greater flexibility in future site development.
“As previously stated, we believe these northern PRB reserves will help us competitively serve US power producers, supply additional coal for export to emerging Asia or possibly house the site of a future coal-conversion facility."
