Optimum Coal to list this month

Johannesburg, South Africa — MININGREVIEW.COM — 11 March 2010 – Optimum Coal Holdings Limited “’ a majority black-owned South African coal mining and exploration company “’ says it will be listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on 29 March.

Making the announcement here, the company “’ a producer of thermal coal “’ said it would be seeking to raise R1.6 billion. It explained that it planned to use the cash to repay debt incurred after it bought a majority stake in the Koornfontein Mine from Sentula Mining, as well as to fund more acquisitions.

“It is anticipated that around R1.6 billion will be raised through a subscription for new shares and an offer for sale by certain shareholders,” the company said.

Optimum Coal said it had extensive operations in the Witbank coalfield region of eastern Mpumalanga province, and that it had exported 45% of its total 9.3 million-tonne coal output in the year to June.

The company also has a 9.5 % interest in the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), where it is the largest single black-owned shareholder with a 6.86 million tonnes export allocation.