Western Coal Publishes Management Information Circular for Plan of Arrangement with Walter Energy

VANCOUVER, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Western Coal Corp. (TSX: WTN, WTN.WT and AIM: WTN) (the "Company" or "Western") announces that it has posted on the Company's website (www.westerncoal.com/walter_energy_news) and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) the management information circular relating to the proposed acquisition of Western by Walter Energy (as previously announced on December 3, 2010). The notice of meeting and management information circular is in the process of being mailed to Western's shareholders of record as at February 1, 2011.

A special meeting of the Western shareholders to consider the acquisition proposal will be held on March 8, 2011 at the The Westin Harbour Castle, 1 Harbour Square, Toronto, Ontario at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). All shareholders are encouraged to vote in person or by proxy. Details on how to vote are contained in the information circular.

Completion of the proposed acquisition is conditional on approval by Western shareholders and by the Supreme Court of British Columbia and satisfaction of other customary conditions, including regulatory and stock exchange approvals. Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of all conditions precedent, it is currently anticipated that the proposed acquisition will be completed on or about April 1, 2011.

Western has retained Georgeson Shareholder Communications Canada Inc. to act as proxy solicitation agent and to respond to inquiries from shareholders. Georgeson may be contacted by telephone at 1-866-717-7947 toll-free in North America, 1-781-575-2168 toll-free outside of North America or by e-mail at [email protected].

About Western Coal
Western Coal is a producer of high quality metallurgical coal from three mines in northeast British Columbia (Canada), high quality metallurgical coal and compliant thermal coal from four mines located in West Virginia (USA), and high quality anthracite and metallurgical coal in South Wales (UK). The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and trades on the AIM and TSX stock exchanges under the symbol "WTN". More information can be found at www.westerncoal.com

Forward-Looking Information
This release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements relate to the Company's expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs. As a result, actual future events or results could differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR. Such risk factors include, but are not limited to changes in commodity prices; strengths of various economies; the effects of competition and pricing pressures; the oversupply of, or lack of demand for, the Company's products; currency and interest rate fluctuations; various events which could disrupt the Company's construction schedule or operations; the Company's ability to obtain additional funding on favourable terms, if at all; and the Company's ability to anticipate and manage the foregoing factors and risks. Additionally, statements related to the quantity or magnitude of coal deposits are deemed to be forward-looking statements. The reliability of such information is affected by, among other things, uncertainties involving geology of coal deposits; uncertainties of estimates of their size or composition; uncertainties of projections related to costs of production; the possibilities in delays in mining activities; changes in plans with respect to exploration, development projects or capital expenditures; and various other risks including those related to health, safety and environmental matters.

SOURCE Western Coal Corp.