Challenger expands Barito coal mining project
Tuesday, March 5 2013 - 01:47 AM WIB
TSE-listed Challenger Deep Resources Corp through its wholly owned subsidiary, PT Bestindo Energy, has entered into an exclusivity agreement to purchase all of the shares of PT HAAS, a private Indonesian company. HAAS owns mining infrastructure and has the right to mine and market coal from the Alam Bahteria Barito Raya (ABBR) coal project in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The company said in a statement obtained Tuesday that the agreement with HAAS gives Challenger the exclusive right, for a period of sixty days, to conduct due diligence on the HAAS assets, including the coal ?mining operation-production agreement? for the ABBR project and its related mining infrastructure, and to purchase the HASS shares if it is satisfied with the due diligence review.
The mining operation ? production agreement will give Challenger control of all coal production and marketing within the ABBR project area, it said.
The ABBR coal project is located in the Murah Teweh district of Central Kalimantan and is 12 kilometers east of the Barito River, the main river coal transportation route for the area.
The ABBR Coal Project is located immediately to the east of KEM project and lies immediately adjacent and is contiguous with the KEM project. Challenger has an exclusivity agreement with respect to the KEM project mining rights. The ABBR Project covers 1,787ha and has an IUP Operation Production license.
ABBR is a multi-seam high-quality thermal coal project and covers the extension to the same coal seams found on the previously announced KEM project. The ABBR project underwent successful trial production during the period 2009-2010.
HASS-owned infrastructure assets include a 12km haul road and jetty facilities on the Barito river. Ownership of the existing infrastructure will enable an early start to production and importantly gives complete control and security of the coal transport process to the Barito river. The combination of the KEM and ABBR projects will increase the production potential of the area and offer production and marketing synergies., Challenger said.
Coal can either be sold FOB barge at the jetty site or transshipped further downstream to a stockpile for later, direct loading on the Mother Vessel for shipment to the final consumption markets.
Challenger said a geological team is currently on site to commence a full evaluation of the ABBR project including coal quality and seam interpretations. Concurrently, an extensive desktop study has commenced to review the existing ABBR project database. Challenger engineering staff will also carry out a full assessment of the infrastructure assets.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak