Manila (Platts)--5Feb2013/920 am EST/1420 GMT
Challenger Deep Resources' wholly owned subsidiary, Bestindo Energy, entered into an exclusive agreement to mine and market coal from Indonesian Kara Elmas Madenleri's coal project in central Kalimantan, the Canadian company said late Monday. The agreement "gives Challenger the exclusive right, for a period of sixty days, to conduct due diligence on the KEM coal project and to enter into a Mining Operation - Production Agreement for the project," the company said in a statement. "The Mining Operation - Production Agreement will give Challenger full control of all coal production and marketing within the KEM project area." Challenger added that it expects to sign the mining operation-production agreement with KEM later this month. KEM owns 100% of the coal project in the Murah Teweh district of central Kalimantan. The project, which covers 335 hectares with an operation-production license, is 12 km east of the Barito River -- the main river transportation route for the area. It is a multi-seam high-quality thermal coal project with existing infrastructure in place to enable an early start to production. The infrastructure includes a 12 km haul road and loading jetty. Article continues below...Sign up to International Coal Report today. International Coal Report and its daily companion, Coal Trader International, deliver expert and respected price assessments for coal trading in the Atlantic and Pacific markets including price assessments for European CIF ARA, FOB Newcastle, Richards Bay and Indonesia.
Challenger Deep Resources' wholly owned subsidiary, Bestindo Energy, entered into an exclusive agreement to mine and market coal from Indonesian Kara Elmas Madenleri's coal project in central Kalimantan, the Canadian company said late Monday. The agreement "gives Challenger the exclusive right, for a period of sixty days, to conduct due diligence on the KEM coal project and to enter into a Mining Operation - Production Agreement for the project," the company said in a statement. "The Mining Operation - Production Agreement will give Challenger full control of all coal production and marketing within the KEM project area." Challenger added that it expects to sign the mining operation-production agreement with KEM later this month. KEM owns 100% of the coal project in the Murah Teweh district of central Kalimantan. The project, which covers 335 hectares with an operation-production license, is 12 km east of the Barito River -- the main river transportation route for the area. It is a multi-seam high-quality thermal coal project with existing infrastructure in place to enable an early start to production. The infrastructure includes a 12 km haul road and loading jetty.
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International Coal Report and its daily companion, Coal Trader International, deliver expert and respected price assessments for coal trading in the Atlantic and Pacific markets including price assessments for European CIF ARA, FOB Newcastle, Richards Bay and Indonesia.
The coal can either be sold on an FOB barge basis at the jetty site or via transshipment to a stockpile, after which it will be loaded into bigger vessels for shipment to domestic and international markets, the miner said. Challenger has staff onsite to complete the due diligence, begin mine plan drilling and prepare infrastructure agreements. Challenger chief executive Ranjeet Sunder said the KEM project gives his company potential to generate near-term cash flow which will provide funding for its Tabang coal project development, also in Indonesia, as well as capitalize on other opportunities. He added that the KEM project is low risk and requires low capital. Challenger is an exploration company focused on the Asian coal industry and its business plan is to acquire, explore and bring its viable coal projects into production.--Cecilia Quiambao, cecilia_quiambao@platts.com--Edited by Geetha Narayanasamy, geetha_narayanasamy@platts.com
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