| Thu 12 Feb 2009, 9:00 | | CZA - CoAL - Vele Colliery - Appointment of preferred partner |
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CZA
CZA
CZA - CoAL - Vele Colliery - Appointment of preferred partner
Coal of Africa Limited
(previously, "GVM Metals Limited")
(Incorporated and registered in Australia)
(Registration number ABN 008 905 388)
Share code on the JSE Limited: CZA
ISIN AU000000CZA6
Share code on the Australian Stock Exchange Limited: CZA
ISIN AU000000CZA6
(`CoAL` or `the Company`)
12 February 2009
VELE COLLIERY - APPOINTMENT OF PREFERRED PARTNER
OPENCAST MINING OPERATIONS
Coal of Africa Limited ("CoAL" or "Company"), the AIM/ASX/JSE listed coal
development company operating in South Africa (ticker: CZA), is pleased to
announce that it has selected MCC Contracts, a division of Eqstra Holdings Ltd,
as its preferred partner to conduct opencast mining operations at its planned
Vele coking coal project ("Vele Project").
The Vele Project, in which CoAL has a 74% interest, is located in the Limpopo
Province. It is anticipated that mining will commence in Q3 2009 with 1 - 1.5
million tonnes per annum ("mtpa"), ramping up to 5mtpa of coking coal. As
announced on 24 September 2008, the Vele resource has increased appreciably to
some 721 million tonnes and this is expected to increase as drilling continues
on the edges of the known resource.
The New Order Mining Right Application for the Vele Project was lodged in
October 2008.
CoAL is confident of MCC Contracts` ability to deliver the volumes as required.
Further aspects that were considered in selecting MCC Contracts included:
* Safety Record
* BEE Compliance
* Ability to deliver through own sourced equipment
* Past performance
* Cost Effectiveness
* Funding Access
* Financial Stability
* Technical skills (mine planning & engineering)
* Machine acquisition and maintenance
*Local Labour sourcing
MCC Contracts has been a leader in the field of surface contract mining for the
past 25 years and has vast experience in the fields of both hard rock and coal
mining. Current mining contracts involve the excavation of over 15 million
tonnes of ore and waste rock per month. The MCC Group has a large fleet of over
1400 items of earthmoving and support equipment which is maintained in-house to
high standards, and to this end MCC Contracts and other partners in the Eqstra
stable have established a training college for mechanical artisans, which
currently has 200 apprentices under training and is set to double that output in
the near future. MCC Contracts is fully owned by Eqstra Holdings Ltd, with a BEE
ownership of 31.1%
CoAL will now commence discussions to formalise agreements with MCC Contracts
for mining activities to start by Q3 2009.
Yours sincerely
SIMON J FARRELL
Managing Director
For more information contact:
Simon Farrell, Managing Director
CZA
+61 417 985 383 or +61 8 9322 6776
Peter Bacchus/ Alastair Cochran
Morgan Stanley
+44(0) 20 7425 8000
Simon Edwards/ Chris Sim
Evolution Securities
+44(0) 20 7071 4300
Jos Simson/ Gareth Tredway
Conduit PR
+44(0) 20 7429 6603
About CoAL:
Coal of Africa Limited ("CoAL") is primarily focused on the acquisition,
exploration and development of thermal and metallurgical coal projects. The
Company`s key projects, along with its leading metals processing company NiMag
Group (Pty) Ltd are in South Africa. The Company was incorporated in Western
Australia and listed in 1980. Since 2005, the Company has also listed on both
the AIM and JSE markets, allowing further growth in the Company`s coal assets.
Resource Estimation:
Resource estimations have been compiled by Mr John Sparrow (Member of the South
African Council of Natural Science Professions SACNASP) 400109/03, an
independent geological and technical consultant with 26 years experience in the
Southern African and Australian regions. Mr Sparrow has sufficient experience
relevant to the assessment of this style of mineralization to qualify as a
Competent Person as defined in the Australasian Code for Reporting of
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves - the JORC Code - and
has compiled a number of Competent Person`s reports for various organizations
for the JSE, ASX and TSE. Mr Sparrow consents to the inclusion of the
information in this report in the form and context in which it appears.
Sponsor
PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance (Pty) Ltd
Date: 12/02/2009 09:00:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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