Atrum Coal NL Completes Consolidation of Coal Licences in Groundhog

Perth, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Atrum Coal NL (ASX:ATU) (OTCMKTS:ATRCF) is pleased to announce it has acquired a large package of granted coal licences and one coal licence application from Anglo Pacific Group PLC ("Anglo Pacific") (LON:APF) (TSE:APY).

Executive Director, Mr Russell Moran said:

"The Groundhog coalfield in British Columbia, Canada boasts the world's largest high grade and ultra-high grade anthracite endowment and we now own all the known anthracite-bearing tenure. Our long term strategy is to ultimately become the world's largest exporter of high grade and ultra-high grade anthracite."

Commenting on the acquisition, Julian Treger, Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Pacific, said: "This transaction is consistent with Anglo Pacific's strategy of monetising equity investments and growing our portfolio of royalties. We look forward to working with the Atrum Coal management team on the development of these coal properties in Canada."

The acquisition includes 20 granted coal licences and one coal licence application, collectively covering an area of 10,235 hectares, and represents the complete consolidation of all the known anthracite-bearing tenure in the Groundhog and Panorama Coalfields.


ACQUISITION TERMS

Material terms of the acquisition include a 1% gross revenue royalty or a US$1/tonne royalty (whichever is the higher) payable on anthracite produced from the assets acquired from Anglo Pacific only, US$500,000 payable in cash, a US$2.0m 8% promissory loan note repayable within 18 months, and 1,000,000 Atrum shares, which are escrowed for 18 months from the date of issue.


ACQUISITION RATIONALE

The coal licences that are being acquired have been under-explored and could hold significantly more anthracite than has been reported. Furthermore, it is likely that the mine plan at Groundhog North, which underpins the recent PFS, can be extended as the anthracite seams continue west into the new coal licences.

As a matter of priority, the Company plans to incorporate the newly acquired coal licences into the upcoming PFS revision for Groundhog North, which is expected to deliver substantial improvements in CAPEX, OPEX and project economics above what is already a tier one development opportunity.


VP Operations, Ben Smith commented:

"The additional tenure adds a significant amount of upside to an already impressive resource. Our planned initial mine, Groundhog North, will already be a large mine. However, this occupies only a relatively small area compared to the overall tenure available to us. The Anglo tenement acquisition adds even further to this.

Specifically, the acquisition of the Anglo tenements will significantly extend the Groundhog North mining domain. A greater mining footprint in this area will allow the mine to operate for a far longer period and therefore make more effective use of planned project infrastructure. A number of other synergies from the acquisition are being actively investigated with the view to incorporating these into a revised Pre-Feasibility Study. Such measures would likely result in a higher NPV and IRR for Groundhog North.

The Company has recently embarked on an extensive marketing effort in Korea, Japan and China to potential customers. These discussions were very successful. The Board is confident that the acquisition of the Anglo Pacific coal tenure is the right strategic move and will provide many positive synergies with the rest of the existing area."


ABOUT ANGLO PACIFIC GROUP

Anglo Pacific is a global natural resources royalties company. The strategy of the group is to expand its mineral royalty interests in long-life mining assets. The group achieves this through both direct acquisition and investment in projects at the development and production stage. Anglo Pacific currently generates royalty revenues from the Kestrel and Crinum coal mines in Queensland, a producing gold/copper mine in Spain and iron ore mines in Brazil.

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About Atrum Coal NL:

Atrum Coal NL (ASX:ATU) (OTCMKTS:ATRCF) 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
T: +61-8-9388-3131
www.atrumcoal.com