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Churchill Mining PLC is a UK listed exploration Company with coal assets in Indonesia in the East Kutai Thermal Coal Project and the Sendawar Indonesian Coal Bed Methane Project. In addition, Churchill retains a 20% stake and royalty over the South Woodie Woodie manganese project in Australia and a 35.7% shareholding in Spitfire Resources which now controls the project.
The Company is focused on becoming a major Indonesian coal producer. Churchill's business plan is to leverage off the rampant growth currently experienced in China and India and in particular their appetite for coal and energy.
Demand for thermal coal is growing rapidly, driven by Asian energy consumption and export constraints in China, South Africa and Australia. This is further strengthened by local government mandates to substitute oil-fired power stations with coal. Churchill’s assets are situated in a particularly pro coal mining province in Indonesia providing it with a strong shipping advantage to Asian markets.
The execution of this business plan has been instigated with the acquisition of the East Kutai Coal Project in Kalimantan and the Sendawar CBM Project in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, a country with established infrastructure for the industry.
Churchill raised £10m via an equity issue to fund an aggressive drilling and feasibility studies campaign at the East Kutai Coal Project and has since extended the size of the Project by 200 square kilometres by acquiring a 75% interest in the abutting tenements to the west of EKCP from the Investmine Group of Indonesia. Exploration and resource drilling continue along with scoping and pre-feasibility work.
An initial JORC Resource Statement defining 250 Mt of coal resources was announced in April 2008 and more than doubled the amount of coal expected to be confirmed. This comprised of: Measured Resource of 44Mt, Indicated resource of 73Mt and an Inferred resource of 133Mt.
Churchill's management continues to assess further opportunities in Australia and southern Asia to acquire quality projects in line with the Company's business plan. The Company is committed to growing shareholder value by become a leading minerals explorer and future miner at a time of accelerating commodities demand.
East Kutai Thermal Coal Project (Churchill 75%)
In May 2007 Churchill announced a sales agreement had been entered into to purchase a 75% interest in the East Kutai Coal Project from PT Techno Coal Utama. Churchill has now extended the size of the project by 200 square kilometres by acquiring a 75% interest in the abutting tenements to the west of EKCP from the Investmine Group of Indonesia. Exploration and resource drilling continue along with scoping and pre-feasibility work.
This initial JORC Resource Statement defining 250 Mt of coal resources more than doubled the amount of coal expected to be confirmed by April 2008.
Preliminary analysis of the coal indicates that it is low sulphur, low ash and can be marketed as both a primary coal and a blending stock.
Sendawar Indonesian CBM Project (Churchill 70%)
Churchill acquired the Sendawar Coal Project in East Kalimantan, Indonesia in April 2006. The Sendawar project is a very large tenement holding, in excess of 800km2, a world-renowned coal province whose production output has been estimated to be growing at approximately 20% per annum.
Given the estimated thickness of the coal seams at Sendawar and the known lateral extent, there is potential for a large in situ gas resource of up to 5TCF to be defined.
Churchill and its joint venture partners are planning to complete a joint evaluation study in order to assess the potential of Sendawar. If the study is positive, the joint venture will seek to convert the JEA into a Production Sharing Contract (PSC).
Kalimantan Coal
• Coal demand for both metallurgical and thermal coal has risen sharply due to
unprecedented demand from many parts of Asia
• Governmental mandates to substitute existing oil-fired power stations with
coal-fired power stations
• Kalimantan coal has become increasingly attractive to purchasers because of
its low ash and low sulphur content along with Indonesia's close proximity to
markets; and
• Exploration, mining and transport logistics are well understood and now
catered for, given the major domestic and international coal mining
investments made in Kalimantan during the first half of the 1990s and
onwards.
South Woodie Woodie Manganese Project
Given Churchill’s increasing focus on large-scale energy projects, the company decided it prudent to divest 80% of its South Woodie Woodie project to Spitfire Resources Limited, which listed on the ASX in 11 December 2007, following a capital raising of A$6m in a heavily oversubscribed IPO.
Spitfire has the option to purchase the remaining equity in the project for A$3 million and after spending A$1.5m on exploration, and Churchill will retain 20% of project and manganese production royalty.
Spitfire has raised $1.73 million through a placing of 8.65 million shares at 20c to Tinfos, the diversified Norwegian-based industrial, trading and metals & alloys group, making Tinfos Spitfire’s second largest shareholder with 12.3% of the company’s expanded share capital.
The proceeds of the share placement increased Spitfire’s cash reserves to A$7.1 million at the end of the March 2008 Quarter, providing a strong foundation for the Company’s 2008 exploration programme at the South Woodie Woodie Project.
Tinfos AS is a holding company with a portfolio of businesses including industrial export-orientated operations and international trade. Originally established in the 19th century as a hydro-electric power generation company, Tinfos is today a leading diversified industrial, trading and metals & alloys group which generated sales revenue in excess of NOK7 billion in 2007.
Churchill holds a 35.7% stake in Spitfire Resources.
www.spitfireresources.com
Indonesia
| David Quinlivan - Chairman |
| Mr Quinlivan is a mining engineer and principal of Borden Mining Services. With almost 30 years experience on projects throughout the world, Mr Quinlivan is familiar with all aspects of resources developments from grass roots exploration through to bankable feasibility reviews and detailed mining programs. He assisted the Administrators with the operation and corporate reconstruction of Sons of Gwalia Ltd. Mr. Quinlivan is currently Chief Executive Officer of Mt Gibson Iron Limited, a mid-tier iron ore producer in Australia. |
| Mr Quinlivan is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Member of the Australian Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators Australia and an Associate of the Securities Institute of Australia. He is also a non-executive director of ASX-listed gold explorer Avoca Resources Ltd. Mr Quinlivan is responsible for board performance and bringing technical excellence to Churchill Mining Plc. |
| Paul Mazak - Managing Director |
| Mr Mazak is a business development specialist and was managing director of Hastings and Associates Pty Ltd for 18 years. Responsible for leading and managing financial, investment, consulting and governmental teams across the globe, Mr Mazak has an intimate knowledge of business practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and Europe . Due to his in-depth knowledge of the mining business, Mr Mazak specialises in securing projects for listed companies. In this regard, he was responsible for the creation and management of the successfully bidding, B.Vijakumar Diamond mining consortium, which sort to develop the world-class Madhya Pradesh diamond property in India. In addition, Mr Mazak sourced the mine assets and was part of the reconstruction team of ASX-listed Majestic Resources NL, where he served as a director between 2001 and 2003. Mr Mazak has been Managing Director of Churchill Mining Plc since 2005 and is responsible for project procurement of the coal and gas assets in Indonesia for the company. Mr. Mazak resides in Indonesia. |
| James Hamilton - Director |
| Mr Hamilton is a former award-winning financial journalist who has specialised in covering the global resources industry. For 13 years Mr Hamilton traveled extensively analysing exploration projects, mines and management teams across a variety of mineral commodities, including precious metals, ferrous metals, diamonds, energy minerals and industrial minerals. He is the former Editor of Australian technical mining journal Australia's Mining Monthly. He has also been Editor of dedicated mining investment magazine ResourceStocks and is the founder of mining information news service, MiningNews.net. In 2005 he was appointed Joint Managing Director of AIM-listed company Churchill Mining Plc and has helped grow the company from concept into a successful explorer. Mr. Hamilton is Managing Director of Spitfire Resources, which acquired 80% of the South Woodie Woodie project from Churchill in December 2007. Churchill now holds a 35.7% stake of Spitfire Resources. In his position as Director his responsibilities have included operations management, marketing, treasury, project development and corporate compliance. |
| Faroek Basrewan - Director |
| Mr Basrewan specialises in dealing with the various levels of Indonesian central, provincial and local government. A graduate in law from Indonesian Christian University, Mr Basrewan has had a long and distinguished career in general mediation and dispute resolution, government and regulatory relations within Indonesia. Mr Basrewan has distinguished himself in service to Indonesia as Special Staff to the Minister of Defence and has carried out various assignments for the Indonesian Government over many years. He was the Special Assistant to the first democratically elected Indonesian President, Abdul Rachman Wahid (Gus Dur). He is currently Special Advisor and Special Assistant to Dr Alwi Shihab, the Indonesia President's Envoy to the Middle East . |
Company AddressUnit 8, 1st Floor
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Additional Address/Key ContactP.O Box 8050 |
Annual General MeetingTBC | Year End30 June |
Nominated BrokersMidas Investment Management Service | Nominated AdvisorsBlueOar Securities |
27/11/07 - Hoodless Brennan