PROJECTS
INVESTMENTS
EAST KUTAI COAL PROJECT - INDONESIA
BACKGROUND
The East Kutai Coal Project is a world-class thermal coal deposit, with a JORC Mining Reserve of 961 million tonnes and a JORC Mining Resource of 2.730 billion tonnes.
In accordance with the new Indonesian Mining Law, Churchill has completed the initial stage of its Indonesian restructuring and has converted its 75% beneficial interest in the Ridlatama Tambang license area into a direct equity interest.
The Ridlatama Tambang license area is the larger of the two IUP licenses that make up the East Kutai Coal Project, with a resource of 2.545 billion tonnes, or 93.2% of the 2.730 billion tonne resource of the East Kutai Coal Project. Churchill has also converted to a 75% direct ownership in PT Ridlatama Trade Powerindo, which holds a prospective 5,386 hectare license area adjacent to the Ridlatama Tambang license area, on which no drilling has been done to date.
PROJECT HISTORY
Churchill Mining Plc and its Indonesian partners the Ridlatama Group intend to increase the project coal production rate by up to 10mtpa to 35mtpa. Coal production from the Northern Pit would increase from 20mtpa to 25-30mtpa and production from the Southern Pit would remain at 5mtpa.
Churchill’s feasibility and development work has identified that planned mine facilities at the Northern Pit have the capacity to support a mining production rate of 40-45mtpa. In this context, Churchill has executed project optimization studies which show that the overland conveyor, which will transport the coal from the Northern Pit, has an enhanced capacity of 25-30mtpa, an increase of 5-10mtpa.
Churchill is now incorporating this additional coal production into the project feasibility study, which is expected to be released during the third quarter of 2010.
In addition to the Northern Pit production, and further to the MOU signed with PT. Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the Indonesian state electricity firm, in April 2010, Churchill continues to work on plans for the purchase of 5mtpa of coal from the Southern Pit, which would fulfill Churchill’s Indonesian Domestic Market Obligation (“DMO”). PLN is now reviewing the potential to utilize its coal drying and enhancement technology on the project’s coal, which, in testing, upgraded the coal from sub-bituminous to bituminous, considerably increasing its value.
Churchill also continues to work closely with its strategic adviser, Credit Suisse, in reviewing development options for the project. The optimized feasibility study will form the platform for Credit Suisse’s work as it evaluates Churchill’s options for the project.
