Increased Efficiency and New Equipment Expected to DoubleMonthly Coal Production by Year-End SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- America West Resources, Inc. (OTC:AWSR) (BULLETIN BOARD: AWSR) , a domestic compliant coal producer with mining operations in Central Utah, today announced that Dan Baker, Chief Executive Officer, has authored a letter to shareholders that has been posted to the Company's website at http://www.americacoal.com/. Providing details about the Company's coal mining operations and the monthly production objectives that it expects to achieve over the next 18-24 months, Baker's letter stated: "Dear Valued Shareholders, Business Partners and Friends: "On behalf of America West's management team, I am writing this letter to provide you with a meaningful update on our Company. More specifically, I hope to give you greater insight and perspective on the critical operational and corporate milestones we've worked to achieve in 2009, as well as the challenges and opportunities we believe are ahead of us in the foreseeable future. "I'll begin by noting that the second half of 2009 represents a period of time in which a critical turning point has occurred for America West -- a period in which we have and will continue to make notable strides towards achieving our mission of becoming a globally recognized, industry respected producer of compliant, low-sulfur coal. "When the year began, we spent several months contending with equipment breakdowns, unusually high inflows of water in an active mining section, and extensive drilling programs in advance of mining activities. These, as well as other serious operational difficulties, did not allow us to produce the kinds of results we had hoped for coming out of the gate. Fortunately, the second half of 2009 is proving to be in sharp contrast to the first six months of the year. Steady, upward increases in our monthly coal production; mine development expansion plans that could double our current production by year-end; the necessity to increase the size of our mining workforce; existing customer demand for our compliant coal; and the prospect of new international customers coming on board - all point to a much more positive outlook for our Company. "Earlier this summer, we succeeded in replacing a continuous miner and two shuttle cars, originally purchased in 2004, with newer, rebuilt mining equipment. This new equipment, combined with moving past a series of poor mining conditions, has resulted in greatly improved coal production at our Horizon Mine. With our new continuous miner allowing for consistent monthly extraction of approximately 30,000 tons from a single mining section, America West is now taking steps to acquire or lease a second continuous miner for delivery within the next 60 days to support mining in a second section at Horizon. Maintaining a minimum production level of 30,000 tons per month is significant to us, because the cash flow from the related coal sales allows us to satisfy our current monthly financial commitments. "It should be noted that we are also evaluating the financial advantages of either refurbishing the 2004 equipment for redeployment in a third section at Horizon next Spring, or simply leveraging its trade-in value to offset the cost of new equipment purchases. Of course, these timelines are just general benchmarks and our ability to obtain additional equipment may be adversely affected by limitations on our ability to leverage trade-in values or obtained advantageous financing. "By the end of this year, we expect to have the second section in full production at Horizon, thereby doubling our monthly coal output to approximately 60,000 tons, assuming optimization of our production capabilities. Of course, conditions we encounter in the mine may limit our ability to produce coal at that rate. Also, we plan to hire additional miners over the next two months. Due to certain financial and operational challenges confronting other coal mining operations in our region, America West is currently benefiting from an increased employment pool of available experienced personnel and is attracting a number of highly qualified, well-trained miners to our growing organization. "Also, our management team is currently engaged in contract price negotiations with our customers for the 2010 calendar year - a process that is advancing well and points to strong, sustainable revenue growth for our Company in the coming year. Moreover, we have also been hosting on-site tours of our Horizon operations for new customer prospects who have expressed interest in purchasing our compliant coal for powering utilities and industrial plants in the Far East. With a goal of launching mining operations in a third section at Horizon in early spring, there is an opportunity for us to achieve solid growth in 2010, as well as implement another workforce expansion initiative at that time. "Further enhancing our long term value proposition is our undeveloped Columbia asset -- property covering approximately 5,200 acres in Carbon County, Utah, located in close proximity to our Horizon Mine. As previously announced, tonnage analysis reports and core hole drillings reflect that the Columbia property is estimated to have approximately 50 million tons of raw, recoverable, metallurgical grade coal in place. In accordance with our three-year mine development plan for Columbia, we expect to begin developing the asset as early as the fourth quarter of 2010 with coal production to launch in early 2011, assuming the availability of equipment and obtaining permits. Considering that metallurgical coal has long commanded premium pricing in our industry, the longer term outlook for America West appears to be very promising and getting stronger. "In closing, I'd like to thank each of our valued shareholders and business partners for your continued support and confidence. Today, we have a much stronger foundation for growth in place compared to only nine short months ago, and we are implementing intelligent strategies that should allow us to achieve a number of important objectives in the coming year. You can certainly count on the fact that we will keep working very hard to distinguish America West Resources as a source of pride for everyone associated with our Company," concluded Baker. About America West Resources, Inc. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, America West Resources is an established domestic coal producer focused on the mining of compliant (low-sulfur) coal and its sale primarily to U.S. utility companies for use in generating electricity. The Company operates the Horizon Mine, which has recoverable compliant coal reserves under lease of approximately 19 million tons. In addition, America West maintains an undeveloped leasehold, known as the Columbia Property, covering approximately 5,200 acres in Carbon County, Utah -- near where the Company is currently mining thermal coal from the Horizon Mine. Based on geological studies, tonnage analysis and core hole drillings, the Columbia Property is estimated to have 50 million tons of raw, recoverable metallurgical grade coal reserves in place. For more information, please visit http://www.americacoal.com/. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements Please refer to the Company's Form 10-K and other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") for additional information regarding risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risk factors listed from time to time in such SEC reports. Copies of these filings are available through the SEC's electronic data gathering analysis and retrieval system (EDGAR) at http://www.sec.gov/. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release which are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding current or future mining output, ability to obtain necessary equipment, personnel and permits to mine coal, production capabilities, management's strategy, plans and objectives for future operations, plans and objectives for production, plans and objectives for present and future production, plans and objectives for regulatory approval, and anticipated results, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation, risks associated with coal production, mining in general and in our mines in particular, ability to achieve the coal output anticipated, ability to obtain permits, ability to hire and retain the necessary personnel, as well as other risks detailed in our filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: ELITE FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP Dodi B. Handy, President & CEO (Twitter: dodihandy) For Media Inquiries: Kathy Addison, VP, Elite Media Group (Twitter: kathyaddison) 407-585-1080 or via email at DATASOURCE: America West Resources, Inc. CONTACT: Kathy Addison, VP, Elite Media Group (Twitter: kathyaddison), +1-407-585-1080, Web Site: http://www.americacoal.com/

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