Westmoreland and Cabot Corporation Announce Activated Carbon Capacity Expansion

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Westmoreland Coal Company WLB and Cabot Corporation CBT announced today that they plan to increase activated carbon manufacturing capacity in North America. The joint venture partners plan to double the capacity of their Bienfait, Saskatchewan manufacturing facility to meet the future demand for mercury removal products for use in the coal-fired utility market.

The jointly owned facility will produce an additional 35 million pounds of powdered activated carbon. The Bienfait plant will continue to be served from a co-located mine that is operated by Westmoreland. The additional capacity will be commissioned in 2016.

The expansion will produce Cabot's benchmark DARCO® Hg family of mercury removal products. Cabot will be responsible for the marketing of these products as well as the technology package, while Westmoreland continues to be the operator of the plant.

“The implementation of new mercury control technology throughout the North American coal-fired power generating fleet, driven by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS), will be a major driver of growth in the activated carbon market,” said Friedrich von Gottberg, senior vice president and president Cabot Purification Solutions. “We anticipate significant demand increases over the next three years as U.S. coal-fired utilities comply with the MATS regulation. Once commissioned, our new capacity will help us expand our market leadership and continue to be a long-term, reliable source of high quality products for our customers in North America.”

“We are pleased with the expansion and deepening of our relationship with Cabot. Our activities in the activated carbon industry enable us to increase our presence in the industrial environmental market,” said Keith E. Alessi, Chief Executive Officer, Westmoreland Coal Company.

About Westmoreland Coal Company

Westmoreland Coal Company is the oldest independent coal company in the United States. Our coal operations include sub-bituminous and lignite coal mining in the Western United States and Canada. Its power operations include ownership of the two-unit ROVA coal-fired power plant in North Carolina.

About Cabot Corporation

Cabot Corporation CBT is a global specialty chemicals and performance materials company, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company is a leading provider of rubber and specialty carbons, activated carbon, inkjet colorants, cesium formate drilling fluids, fumed silica, aerogel, and elastomer composites. For more information on Cabot, please visit the company's website at: http://www.cabotcorp.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in the press release regarding Cabot's business that are not historical facts are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.