Western Coal and Walter Energy Receive Investment Canada Act Approval in Connection with Proposed Arrangement

VANCOUVER, March 24 /CNW/ --
VANCOUVER, March 24 /CNW/ - Western Coal Corp. (TSX: WTN, WTN.WT) and (AIM: WTN) ('Western') and Walter Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WLT) ('Walter') are pleased to announce that the Minister of
Industry, under the Investment Canada Act, has approved the proposed
acquisition of Western by Walter upon determination that the
transaction is of net benefit to Canada.  Completion of the arrangement
remains conditional on satisfaction of other customary conditions.
Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of all conditions precedent, it
is currently anticipated that the arrangement will be completed on or
about April 1, 2011.

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.

About Walter Energy

Walter Energy is a leading U.S. producer and exporter of premium hard
coking coal for the global steel industry and also produces steam coal
and industrial coal, metallurgical coke and coal bed methane gas.
Walter Energy has annual revenues of approximately $1.6 billion and
employs approximately 2,100 people. For more information about Walter
Energy, please visit the company website at www.walterenergy.com.

Western Coal's Forward-Looking Information Disclaimer

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.

Walter Energy Safe Harbor Statement

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in
this release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking
statements are based on information available to management at the
time, and they involve judgments and estimates. There can be no
assurance that the transaction with Western Coal will close. The
transaction is subject to a number of closing conditions which may be
outside of Walter Energy's control. Forward-looking statements include
expressions such as 'believe,' 'anticipate,' 'expect,' 'estimate,'
'intend,' 'may,' 'plan,' 'predict,' 'will,' and similar terms and
expressions. These forward-looking statements are made based on
expectations and beliefs concerning future events affecting us and are
subject to various risks, uncertainties and factors relating to our
operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to
predict and many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our
actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or
implied by these forward-looking statements. The following factors are
among those that may cause actual results to differ materially from our
forward-looking statements: the market demand for coal, coke and
natural gas as well as changes in pricing and costs; the availability
of raw material, labor, equipment and transportation; changes in
weather and geologic conditions; changes in extraction costs, pricing
and assumptions and projections concerning reserves in our mining
operations; changes in customer orders; pricing actions by our
competitors, customers, suppliers and contractors; changes in
governmental policies and laws, including with respect to safety
enhancements and environmental initiatives; availability and costs of
credit, surety bonds and letters of credit; and changes in general
economic conditions. Forward-looking statements made by us in this
release, or elsewhere, speak only as of the date on which the
statements were made. See also the 'Risk Factors' in our 2010 Annual
Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC which are
currently available on our website at www.walterenergy.com. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is
impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us or
our anticipated results. We have no duty to, and do not intend to,
update or revise the forward-looking statements in this release, except
as may be required by law. In light of these risks and uncertainties,
readers should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made in
this press release may not occur. All data presented herein is as of
the date of this release unless otherwise noted.

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