Appointment of Non-executive Director

Atlantic Coal plc / Index: AIM / Epic: ATC / Sector: Mining

5 July 2011

Atlantic Coal plc ("Atlantic" or the "Company")

Appointment of Non-executive Director

Atlantic Coal plc, the AIM listed open cast coal production and processing company with activities in Pennsylvania, USA, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Edward Nelson to its Board as Non-Executive Director with immediate effect. Mr. Nelson's experience in the coal mining and engineering industries will be beneficial to the Company as it looks to continue to raise production at its primary asset, the Stockton Anthracite Colliery in Pennsylvania and fulfil its strategy of increasing its resource base and portfolio through acquisition.

Mr. Nelson is a qualified mining engineer and has been involved with a wide range of coal and resource projects throughout his 38 year career. He built his experience of the coal mining sector working for 12 years at British Coal across various locations and subsequently spent four years at Komatsu Ltd ("Komatsu"), the world's second largest manufacturer of mining equipment. After these positions, Mr. Nelson established EJN Engineering Ltd ("EJN Engineering"), a mechanical engineering company focussed on the design and production of bespoke mining and construction equipment. He continues to serve as Managing Director of EJN Engineering and in this role, has worked on a broad range of projects across a number of locations, including Pennsylvania. In tandem with this, he is also the founder and Managing Director of EJN Services Ltd ("EJN Services"), a recruitment company specialising in the engineering sector which has a range of blue-chip clients including Komatsu and Nissan.

Atlantic Managing Director Steve Best said, "Edward has extensive experience of the mining industry and, having worked with him for many years, particularly in relation to procurement where he has effected considerable savings, we are confident that his technical acumen will be of considerable benefit to Atlantic in his role as a Non-Executive Director. We are focussed on bolstering our management team, highlighted by the recent appointment of Barney Corrigan as Project Development Officer, and on building upon our strong foundation at Stockton to fulfil our acquisition and growth strategy."

Regulatory disclosures

Edward Joseph Nelson (aged 54) is or has been a director/partner of the following companies in the last 5 years:

Save as disclosed above, there are no further disclosures to be made in relation to Edward Nelson under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) (i)‒(viii) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

**ENDS**

For further information on the Company, visit: www.atlanticcoal.com or contact:

Notes

Atlantic Coal plc is an AIM listed coal production and processing company focussed predominantly on open cast mining and the processing of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania, USA. The Company's primary asset is the Stockton Colliery, a producing surface coal mine and adjacent anthracite preparation plant encompassing an area of approximately 900 hectares located in Hazel Creek in North-East Pennsylvania, which has current Proven Reserves of 4.2 million tons run-of-mine coal.

Atlantic's strategy is to create a significant mid-tier coal company; both through the expansion of activities at Stockton and identifying additional sites in Pennsylvania to build its production and resource profile, primarily by acquiring defined assets in stable, recognised, high quality coal regions. The Board has identified opportunities to expand within the region and is involved in ongoing negotiations regarding adjacent sites, with the intention of acting as a regional consolidator in the Pennsylvanian Coal Field. Expansion within the local area has the potential to minimise upfront deal costs as a result of existing and proven infrastructure, equipment, facilities and market demand.