White to commission coal upgrading plant in 2008

Australian firm White Energy Company is targeting to commission its coal upgrading plant in Tabang, East Kalimantan next year.

According to the company?s presentation released Friday, site works and detailed engineering design for the plant have been completed and documents have been issued for construction.

The company has also ordered long-lead items and will be received progressively onsite from now through to early 2008 and the construction of the 8-MW power plant is also on schedule.

White, which has 51 percent stake in the project, is teaming up with Bayan Group, which owns the Tabang mine, to develop the plant with initial production capacity of 1MTPA, ramping up to 5MTPA in the next few years.

The company also targets to complete all pre-production work and commence the construction of another 1MTPA coal upgrading plant in one of Adaro Indonesia?s mines in Kalimantan next year.

White will have 51 percent in the project, with the remainder held by Adaro and Japan?s Itochu Corp.(alex)