Cokal buys additional 10% stake at C. Kalimantan coking coal projects
Tuesday, July 5 2011 - 01:18 AM WIB
The purchase or the additional equity will bring Cokal?s ownership of the two projects to 60%, the company said in statement.
Under the arrangements the local partner with be paid a combination of cash and shares at a cost broadly in line with the price the company paid for its original 50% equity position in 2010. Under the terms of the transaction Cokal will purchase an additional 10% of the shares in the two PMA holding companies PT Bumi Barito Mineral and PT Borneo Bara Prima. The transaction will be subject to the normal regulatory approvals.
Last week Cokal confirmed high quality premium metallurgical coal at its Bumi Barito Mineral (BBM) project. BBM covers an area of approximately 20,000ha, immediately adjacent to BHPBilliton?s Juloi tenement, straddling the Barito River.
?We now have initial results from four fully cored boreholes and one channel sample. The results show the coal quality ranges from premium coking coal to ultra low volatile PCI. This news confirms that all the seams intersected to date have high value metallurgical qualities? Said Pat Hanna, Executive Director Cokal.
?Independent marketing advice we have received supports our belief that these coals will be highly sought after due to their attractive attributes? said Peter Lynch, chairman of Cokal Ltd. ?We believe they will be keenly sought after to complement other coals becoming popular in modern coke making blends.?
We continue to receive strong interest from some of the world steel industry?s biggest participants. They are motivated to support the potential for a new metallurgical coal basin which allows them to diversify their current raw material supply away from the existing limited geographic locations which are dominated by the majors.
Although Indonesia has recently become the largest exporter of thermal coal in the world, the metallurgical coal potential of Central Kalimantan is yet to be realised. Kalimantan is located favourably in a geographic sense, being on the doorstep of the world?s biggest and strongest growing markets. (romel)