Churchill begins exploration works at E. Kalimantan coal project

Australian junior miner listed at the London Stock Exchange Churchill Mining Plc announced Thursday that general survey exploration work has begun at its Sendawar coal project in East Kalimantan with initial test drilling to begin at the end of July.

The Company?s first field crew is now at site and has commenced mapping coal outcrops discovered on the north eastern part of its tenement position, said the company.

Churchill?s Sendawar project covers more than 1,000 square kilometres of prospective coal ground and lies in close proximity to two operating open-cut mines: Thai miner Banpu?s newly-commissioned Trubaindo operation, which will be shortly producing at a rate of approximately 6 million tonnes per annum and Gunung Bayan mine which has been operating since 1998 and produces approximately 3.4 million tpa. Coal from these mines is transported by barge via the Mahakam River to the port of Samarinda. The Sendawar project is located approximately 50km from the Mahakam River.

Churchill?s short term strategy is to delineate a small reserve on the Project so that it can begin trial mining with a view to producing early term cash-flow, said the company.

Churchill acquired 80 percent stake in the Sendawar from PT Indonesia Coal Development (ICD) for US$4.82 million last month. (alex)