National Coal Corp., a small Central and Southern Appalachian coal producer, was notified by the Nasdaq Stock Market on January 5, 2010, it was not in compliance with Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5450(a)(1) because shares of its common stock closed at a per share bid price of less than $1 for 30 consecutive business days. The company has 180 calendar days (or until July 6, 2010) to regain compliance. The company said it would seek to regain compliance within this 180-day cure period. To regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule, the closing bid price of National Coal’s common stock must close at $1 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days.

In its third quarter earnings statement, the company reported a net loss of $663,950. At the time, the company had sold 286,000 tons for the quarter and National Coal CEO Daniel A. Roling expected the company to show improvement, despite a number of economic challenges. “As we look forward to the future we are mindful that even though our anticipated tons to be sold are less than originally contracted, we have not seen any further deterioration since mid-summer,” Roling said. “We continue to see opportunities for investing in our Tennessee operations and are planning to be well positioned to benefit when the market improves.”

Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., National Coal controls more than 34 million tons of recoverable reserves and owns the mineral rights to 65,000 acres of land. The company operates two underground mines; two surface mines; and one highwall mine. On the processing and handling side, it owns and operates two prep plants, a unit train loading facility, one 24-hour coal load-out facility, a short line railroad, and one idled load-out facility. Altogether, National Coal employs about 325 people. The company sells about 1 million tons of steam coal to electric utilities and industrial companies in the Southeastern United States.

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