Atrum Coal NL Expands Operational Team with Key Appointments

Perth, June 5, 2014 (ABN Newswire) - Atrum Coal NL (ASX:ATU) (OTCMKTS:ATRCF) ("Atrum" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Ben Smith to the Executive Team as Vice President - Operations and Mr Rick Greene as Project Manager (Mining Operations).


Commenting on the appointments, Chairman Mr James Chisholm stated:

"We are pleased to welcome Ben and Rick to the team. They have managed operations for a number of coal mines and both have a comprehensive understanding of what is required to deliver a productive and world class mine safety culture at our Groundhog Anthracite Project in British Columbia, Canada."


Mr Ben Smith - VP Operations

Mr Ben Smith MMinEng (Mine Management); Grad Dip (Mine Vent); BEng (Mining, Hons); BComm (Mgmt); MAusIMM; has spent 15 years in coal mine operations specialising in mine planning and design, mining engineering, safety, risk and mine management. He has held a range of significant mine management positions including:

- Operations Manager/Manager of Mining Engineering - Baal Bone Colliery

- Project Manager/Manager of Mining Engineering - Teralba Colliery (Xstrata)

- Technical Services Manager - Tahmoor South Project (Xstrata)

- Manager of Mining Engineering (Mine Manager) - Ulan U/G (Xstrata)
- Senior Mining Engineer - Ulan West U/G (Xstrata)

- Mining Engineer - West Wallsend Colliery (Xstrata)

- Underground Miner - Bellambi West (Allied Coal)

As Principal Mining Engineer, Mr Smith has provided a range of consulting services to a number of major operators, suppliers and coal consumers including Anglo American, BMA, Idemitsu, Ensham Resources, POSCO, Caterpillar, Shanxi Coal and Yancoal. He has also worked on overseas assignments in China, India, Canada and Turkey.

Mr Smith will be part of the Executive Management Team of Atrum, working to deliver environmentally sustainable, safe and productive underground mine operations, low-impact surface infrastructure and cost-effective logistics solutions for the Company. He will spend considerable time in Canada, at both the Port of Stewart and at the Groundhog site.

With additional experience in product development, Mr Smith will work with the Executive Team and the Board to optimise product specifications that maximise returns from the Groundhog Anthracite Project, particularly in the high-value specialty metals, industrial and water filtration markets.

The recently completed Pre-feasibility Study highlighted the long mine life expected from low-impact underground operations in just a small section of the Groundhog Project. Mr Smith will work closely with Mr Rick Greene as well as the North American management team to progress permitting from bulk sample through to small mine development and ongoing full scale mining.


Mr Rick Greene - Project Manager (Mining Operations)

Mr Rick Greene BEng (Civil); BSc. has spent over 30 years in major mining, civil, and mechanical engineering projects, with the last 25 years in project leadership roles.
Mr Greene has held senior positions with a number of major miners including 16 years at BHP Australia Coal's Saraji Mine in Queensland where he ultimately served as Production Manager achieving five consecutive years of record coking coal exports. He has also held senior positions with BHP Copper and UGL Resources and held positions of Coal Preparation Plant Manager, Site Manager, Production Manager and Operations Manager in his career. Much of his time has been based in remote locations where he has had to establish site policies and procedures, manage training, safety and risk whilst delivering above target performance. Like Mr Smith, Mr Greene willspend a considerable portion of his time in Canada.


About Atrum Coal NL

Atrum Coal NL (ASX:ATU) is an emerging metallurgical coal explorer and developer.

The Company has a substantial coal position in British Columbia which, as a region boasts:

- Abundance of high quality PCI, coking and anthracite coals
- Well developed rail and port infrastructure with excess capacity
- Access to deep sea ports
- Competitive shipping distance to Asia
- Positive government stance on mining

The Company is building a quality portfolio of metallurgical coal assets suited to the Asian export market and the Board of Directors have a strong track record in identifying and developing world class coal assets in Australia and abroad.



Contact

Atrum Coal NL
James Chisholm, Chairman
Tel: +61-419-256-690
E-mail: james@atrumcoal.com

Nathan Ryan, Investor Relations
Tel: +61-420-582-887
E-mail: nathan@atrumcoal.com

Dr Eric Lilford, Managing Director
Tel: +61-424-757-452
E-mail: eric@atrumcoal.com