The study, conducted by leading Illinois Basin energy specialist Strategic Energy Resolutions, concluded that Buck Creek coal had a higher heating value, lower sulphur and lower chlorine content than the US average.

The findings position the coal as a premium product, easily marketed within the expanding domestic market and to overseas buyers.

The geology of the western Kentucky region and specifically Bull Creek lends itself to some of the lowest cost and most productive underground mining in the US.

Between 2000 and 2013, production in the Illinois coal basin steadily increased from 87 million tonnes per annum to more than 134Mtpa.

The trend is expected to continue as further scrubbed power capacity becomes operational in the US, while coal purchased from other higher cost coal basins is set to decrease.

Located in close proximity to the Green, Ohio and Cumberland rivers, access to Illinois Basin coal provides a significant financial advantage to coal-fired power plants, with the cost of coal transportation via barge using the major waterways being significantly less than transporting coal via rail.

The initial target market for the Buck Creek coal is the lucrative regional river market.

Within the regional river market there are more than 18 power plants that have traditional product of similar quality to Buck Creek’s coal.

The highly modernised plants had some of the lowest fuels costs in the US for 2012.

When comparing recent gas prices, coal sourced from the basin will continue to remain competitive.

As scrubbed capacity in the US continues to expand, Illinois Basin coal is predicted to increase in market share and displace higher cost Central Appalachian coal.

Plans for future rail infrastructure, if implemented, could provide additional target markets that have been historically supplied by Central Appalachian coal, not forgetting the potential to sell Bull Creek coal into the seaborne market when international coal prices recover in the future.