Here is SN NR when they aquired the coal projects
Coal deposits acquired in Queensland, Australia
1998-01-26 17:18 ET - News Release
Shares issued 6,134,188
Close 1998-01-23 $ 0.61
Mr Douglas Hyndman reports
The company has signed a heads of agreement (the agreement to acquire a 100% interest in three coal deposits in Queensland, Australia. All three, being the Onaview, Middlemount and Collingwood deposits, are in established coalfields in central and southern Queensland and all contain measured and indicated coal reserves, as established from extensive drilling and coal quality analysis.
The company will form a Barbados subsidiary to hold the interests acquired and this company will acquire the shares of the Australian company that holds the rights and titles to the properties. The total consideration to be paid will be C$1.4 million and the issuance of 8 million shares at $0.48. The total value of the consideration is C$5.24 million. The company has an option period of 45 days in which to obtain VSE approval for the acquisition and for completion of the transaction. A finders fee will not apply in this transaction.
Onaview
The Onaview open cut coal deposit (EPC-594) is 10km north of Dalby in southern Queensland which is connected by a paved highway and rail line to Brisbane, 210km to the east. The Tarong power station lies 75km northeast of Onaview. Work conducted by the Shell Company of Australia reported that the Onaview deposit contains 172 million tonnes of recoverable, high volatile, low sulphur thermal coal with overburden (strip) ratios of less than 7.5 to 1. The average thickness of workable coal ranges from 4 to 8m. One area in the central part of the deposit contains 52.6 million tonnes with a strip ratio of 5 to 1 and an average seam thickness of 7.1m. The coal resource and quality is similar to that at Wilkie Creek held by Allied Queensland Coalfields NL.
Collingwood Deposit
The Collingwood deposit (EPC A640) covers an 115 sq km and is in southeast Queensland, 15km northeast of Wandoan which is connected to Brisbane by a railway line, a distance of 405km. According to the Queensland Department of Mines and Energy resource figures published in the Queensland Government Mining Journal in September 1995, the Collingwood coal deposit contains 85 million tonnes of measured, and 30 million tonnes of indicated, open-cut coal reserves with a strip ratio of between 5 to I 1 and 7.5 to 1. The coal deposit consists of high volatile, low sulphur, thermal coal and could be marketed locally as raw coal, or easily beneficiated to a low ash export product.
Middlemount Block
The Middlemount block (EPC-597) is in Queensland 700km northwest of Brisbane in Queensland's Bowen Basin contains both open-cut and underground reserves of thermal and coking coal. The Booroondara area within EPC-597 contains a total of 254 million tonnes of coal with all seams taken into account, with 113.3 million tonnes of low to medium volatile, low sulphur, bituminous coal occurring in two seams, each over 4m thick, with 31.1 million tonnes occurring in the two seams at less than 100m depth. The area proposed for an initial open-cut contains R.O.M. tonnes of 7.7 million, that can be mined from three open-cuts using a dragline operation; the remainder is amenable to underground mining. The Middlemount-Booroondara coal deposits are adjacent to those of German Creek Colliery which operates, both open-cut and underground coalmines. Infrastructure in the Middlemount area is excellent, and includes townships, roads and rail lines, Middlemount is less than 200km south of the Dalrymple Bay/Hay Point deep water harbour and load-out terminal.
Based on the documented reserves in the three deposits, and using an ascribed value of only A$0.10/tonne for only the measured resource, and zero value for the indicated and inferred resources, the value of these deposits is estimated by the company to be A$37 million.
A regional office will be set up in Queensland to manage the technical studies for all three coal deposits. |
