The announcement comes as a surprise to some, considering Wyoming coal production slumped to 388 million short tons in 2013, down from 443Mt in 2010.

Three of the four publicly traded coal companies working in the Powder River Basin also recorded losses during the first quarter of this year.

Ramaco executives are clearly hoping to buck current trends.

The company’s Brook mine is on 14,500 acres of private and state-owned land between Sheridan and Ranchester, meaning Ramaco does not need to make federal bonus payments like its counterparts who mine government land in the basin.

“The property is bisected by a BNSF rail line and boasts some 100 million tons of recoverable coal with a higher British thermal unit value than much of the coal found in the basin,” Ramaco CEO Randall Atkins said.

Ramaco’s production plans for the Brook mine are modest at just 8Mt per annum, compared to Arch Coal's Black Thunder mine and Peabody Energy's North Antelope Rochelle complex, with each mining more than 100Mtpa.

Although no exact figure has been announced, Ramaco’s investment in the mine is said to be in the “hundreds of millions”

Atkins said Ramaco was undecided on whether it would bring in other partners to operate Brook mine or operate it independently.

Atkins told local media the company had already received offers by domestic utilities keen to get their hands on the 9100Btu coal because most of the coal found in and around the PRB was 8800Btu.

Ramaco will complete 12 months of air and water quality testing at its Brook mine next month.

The company plans to submit the permit application to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality by August.