Ikwezi Mining acquires rights in Waterberg Coal field

Tuesday, 04 Oct 2011

Recently minted Ikwezi Mining is progressing operations quickly in South Africa and has now executed agreements to acquire 70% of two prospecting rights in the Waterberg Coal field.

The rights cover five farms, and are expected to yield coal for both export and local markets. The prospects cover an extensive 5700 hectares, and already have a significant exploration target of 2 to 4 billion tonnes.

The coal fields in the Limpopo province of South Africa are split into the Springbok Flats, Waterberg, Limpopo and Soutpansberg coal fields. The Waterberg Coal field trends east-west and extends westward into Botswana.

The coal seams are developed in both the Vryheid and Grootegeluk Formations, and coal occurs in 11 zones averaging 115 metres in thickness.

Ikwezi said that the upper seven zones consist of alternating bands of coal and mudstone of varying thicknesses averaging in total to 60 metres, with the lower four coal zones having an average thickness of 1.5 metres to 5.5 metres.

The Waterberg coal field contains predominately thermal coal although in certain areas of the field there is also a coking coal fraction that can be derived.

Importantly, mining is relatively easy in the field as the deposit lends itself to large scale opencast mining of very low strip ratios.

(sourced proactiveinvestors)

Polo Resources recovery hit by Bangladesh coal plans

Wednesday, 07 Sep 2011

The past week has been one of convalescence for Polo Resources, the Aim-quoted resource investment company that holds stakes in companies involved in coal, gold and iron ore.

After falling casualty to investors’ risk-off attitude in early August. The recovery began in mid-August when Polo announced a doubling of a special dividend to 2p a share following the GBP 100 million sale of Caledon Resources.

(Sourced from FT.com)

Donetskstal agrees for USD 820 million debt restructure

Tuesday, 16 Aug 2011

Interfax reported that Donetskstal Metallurgical Plant has completed a comprehensive international restructuring of debt totaling USD 820 million that includes all its financial creditors, including international banks, Ukrainian banks, and bond holders.

Donetskstal said “The completion of the restructuring process strengthens the company's competitive position and creates a sturdy financial foundation, which will allow it to focus on its strategic goals.”

The coordinating committee for the restructure included SMBC, ING Bank Amsterdam (Ukraine), Unicredit Bank AG Munich (Ukraine), BNP Paribas, Raiffesen Bank International AG, and Citibank" (Ukraine). In all, more than 35 financial organizations, including creditors of other members of the Donetskstal group, were involved in the restructuring of more than 35 credit agreements and bond issues.

At the beginning of last year, Donetskstal reached agreement on restructuring public and private debts combining to $850 million. The restructure was done under the management of investment company Investment Capital of Ukraine, and was completed last November.

CJSC Donetskstal - Metallurgical Plant was created at the production facilities of Donetsk Metallurgical Plant (OJSC DMZ) and specializes in the production of metal products and commodity coke.

(Sourced from Interfax)

CoAL project ‘less controversial’

Coal of Africa lodge mining right application at its Makhado coking coal project.

ALLAN SECCOMBE Published: 25 Janurary, 2011
COAL of Africa (CoAL) has lodged a mining right application for its Makhado coking coal project, which could supply ArcelorMittal SA with a vital ingredient for making steel, CEO John Wallington said yesterday.
CoAL has run into headwinds from environmentalists at its Vele project on the edge of the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site, which could be part of a large transfrontier park with Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Mr Wallington said much more detailed work was being done at Makhado than at Vele, both of which are in Limpopo. While Makhado is near game reserves, it should not attract as much opposition as Vele has, Mr Wallington said.
The Department of Mineral Resources could take a year to process the mining right application. CoAL is also working with the Department of Environmental Affairs to avoid a repetition of problems at its Mooiplaats mine in Mpumalanga where it ran foul of overlapping regulations between the two departments.

CoAL has consulted interested and affected parties around its Makhado project, which is contiguous to coal properties it bought from Rio Tinto, Mr Wallington said.
"Once the application is accepted by the department, extensive economic, social and environmental impact studies will be prepared as part of the process in formulating an extensive environmental management programme," he said.

Floods in Australia’s coal state, Queensland, and disruptions to the world’s leading supplier of coal would make the diversity offered by CoAL’s Makhado project a boon for shareholders and the province, he said. Source: www.businessday.co.za