Open cast coal miner Atlantic Coal has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with private US coal marketing company Xcoal Energy and Resources. Under the terms of the agreement Xcoal will take 150,000 tons of premium anthracite per year or half of the annual anthracite coal production at Atlantic Coal's Stockton mine, whichever is the greater. It will also contemplate contributing towards funding the expansion of both the Stockton mine and additional mining opportunities elsewhere. "With Xcoal indicating that it will look to take up to half of our targeted annual run-of-mine production of coal, the positive impact on sales and the resulting cash flow is clearly evident," said Atlantic's managing director Steve Best.