Western Canadian Coal to Commence Brule Mine, Announces C$17 Million Private Placement with Cambrian Mining, And Wins BC's Top New Exporter Award For 2006.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Western Canadian Coal Corp. (TSX: WTN)(TSX: WTN.DB) and (AIM: WTN) ("WCCC" or the "Company") announces the following:

Decision to Commence Brule Mine Operations:

The Company is pleased announce that its board of directors has approved plans to proceed with the development and start-up of the Company's Brule mine located within the Burnt River coal property in northeast British Columbia.

The Environmental Assessment Certificate for the Brule mine was received in mid-2006 and the Company anticipates receipt of the mining permit later this month. Accordingly, the Company will proceed with plans to initially develop and operate the Brule mine in a manner similar to the operation at the Dillon mine, where the reserve is now fully depleted. On this basis, the Company estimates that, with minimal additional capital, production at the Brule mine could be in the range of 700,000 to one million tonnes of ultra-low volatile pulverized coal injection ("ULV-PCI") coal per year, and with cash costs per tonne expected to be similar to those experienced at Dillon, being in the mid $60s.

The Brule mine will provide a continuity of ULV-PCI production from the Burnt River properties to the Company's ULV-PCI customers. ULV-PCI coal from the Burnt River property is ranked as a premium PCI coal and has been sold to major steel mills in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Europe.

Private Placement for C$17.1 Million

The Company is pleased to announce, subject to regulatory approval, that it has arranged a non-brokered private placement with the Company's major shareholder, Cambrian Mining plc ("Cambrian") of London, UK, of 8,777,066 shares of the Company at a price of C$1.95 per share for total proceeds of approximately C$17.1 million. The private placement is expected to close upon receipt of regulatory approval and formal approvals under Cambrian's banking facility.

The net proceeds from the placements will be used to: provide the funding required for the production start-up schedule for the Company's Brule mine property as described above; provide funding for the Company's share of the continuing work program on the Belcourt Saxon properties, which are held by the Belcourt Saxon joint venture; provide the initial funding required for the regulatory permitting for the Company's Hermann and EB mine properties; and for general working capital.

Mr. John Byrne, Chairman of the Company, is also the CEO of Cambrian. Mr. John Conlon, director of the Company, is also a director of Cambrian. Cambrian and its wholly owned subsidiary, Deepgreen Minerals Corporation Ltd., currently hold approximately 36.4 million shares representing 41.5% of the issued shares of the Company. Upon completion of the private placement, Cambrian and Deepgreen will own approximately 45.2 million shares representing 46.8% of the issued shares of the Company.

As Cambrian is a substantial shareholder of WCCC, the private placement is deemed to be a related party transaction under Canadian securities laws and under the AIM Rules. The directors of WCCC, other than Messrs. Byrne and Conlon, having consulted with WCCC's nominated adviser, consider that the terms of the private placement are fair and reasonable insofar as its shareholders are concerned.

British Columbia's 2006 Top New Exporter Award

In a ceremony, sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters ("CME") congratulating B.C.'s Top 24 Exporters for 2006, held November 10, 2006 in Vancouver, the Company was named as British Columbia's Top New Exporter for 2006. The New Exporter award recognizes a company that has made its initial entry into an export market and achieved notable success. Commenting on the award, Gary Livingstone, CEO of the Company indicated that he was pleased that the Company was recognized by the CME and Western Economic Diversification Canada, the sponsor of the award, for the Company's significant accomplishment in expanding its potential markets and growing its business through export.

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; the Company's ability to secure long term coal sale contracts for its products and the Company's ability to produce and supply coal that meets contract specifications and customers' expectations; various events which could disrupt the Company's construction schedule or operations; the Company's ability to obtain additional funding on favourable terms, if needed; 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.

WESTERN CANADIAN COAL CORP.

"Gary K. Livingstone"

President and Chief Executive Officer