Known as the Dante reserve, the metallurgical and steam coal resource is located in Barbour County in the southern region of West Virginia.

The transaction, which includes various permits that will allow Massey to establish production infrastructure on the property, was completed November 13 but announced Tuesday.

"We continue to execute a strategy to acquire high-quality coal reserves in Appalachia and add to our dominant reserve share," Massey president Baxter Phillips Jr said, noting that the company’s “opportunistic acquisitions” were possible due to its strong balance sheet.

“In particular, we are excited about adding coal reserves in northern Appalachia to our growing portfolio. We expect the value of these reserves to increase significantly as conditions in the metallurgical coal market improve."

The company announced the acquisition as part of its third-quarter financial results conference, but has not yet detailed a timeline for development.

Massey has grown its total reserves from 767Mt in 1987 to more than 2.3 billion tons today, 1Mt of which have metallurgical quality. The producer has active operations in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky.