16 November 2017
Altona Energy Plc
(“Altona” or “the Company”)
Commissioning of Further Coal Study
Following the announcement of 25 September 2017, the Board of Altona (AIM: ANR) confirms that it has now commissioned a second report to investigate the probability of viable dry coal or ‘less wet’ coal (coal not submerged in deep water) deposits in its three tenements in the Arckaringa Basin, with a focus initially on the Westfield tenement.
The Westfield tenement is located at the edge of the Great Artesian Basin, which is at the highest elevation of the tenements and disconnected from the major water system which covers much of the Arckaringa Basin.
As previously reported, the Company, through its mining consultant WSP Australia Pty Ltd, has engaged the services of Runge Pincock Minarco Global (“RPM”) who are a specialist professional mining consultant with previous history with the Arckaringa Exploration Licences (“ELs”).
RPM is an expert in coal and familiar with the Arckaringa Basin and will undertake a more detailed and accurate data analysis and mapping of the ELs using the available seismic, water table and other data to focus in on the Westfield tenement and other areas disconnected from the main water system to develop information for a potential seismic programme. This in turn will provide information for the development of a possible drilling programme. The objective of these investigations is to define a suitable target area for a coal mining development. The report is expected to take a few weeks to complete.
The recent rise in coal prices in Australia, from a low in January 2016 of USD49 per metric tonne, to today’s price of almost USD100 per metric tonne has convinced the board and the Company’s new investors of the viability of a traditional coal strategy. Australia, the world’s largest exporter of coal, currently exports over 70% of its coal to the Far East and India (*), giving the board confidence that it could quickly find a customer once commercial production has begun.
(*) Sources:
https://www.australianmining.com.au/features/where-does-australias-coal-go-infographic/
https://industry.gov.au/resource/Mining/AustralianMineralCommodities/Documents/Australias-major-export-commodities-coal-fact-sheet.pdf
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
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For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or contact:
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Leander (Financial PR)
Christian Taylor- Wilkinson |
+44 (0)7795 168 157 |
Northland Capital Partners Ltd (Nomad and Broker)
Matthew Johnson / Gerry Beaney (Corporate Finance)
John Howes (Corporate Broking)
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+44 (0)20 3861 6625 |
About Altona
Altona is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market. Its principal focus is on the evaluation and development of the Company’s flagship Arckaringa Project to exploit the significant coal resources contained in three exploration licences covering 2,500 sq. kms in the northern portion of the Permian Arckaringa Basin in South Australia. The Project is designed to produce either coal or syngas products for the Australian market and export from an historic resource exceeding 7.8 billion tonnes of coal (1.3 billion tonnes historic JORC (2004) compliant).
