Entering text into the input field will update the search result below

Tiaro Coal: Singapore's ICP Buys Major Stake

Jul. 01, 2014 8:54 PM ET
Please Note: Blog posts are not selected, edited or screened by Seeking Alpha editors.

Tiaro Coal (ASX:TCM) has received a show of confidence from Singapore's ICP Ltd (SGX:ICP) which had acquired 22.6 million shares, or a 19.9% stake, in the company.

Of note is the fact that ICP, which also has a 11.9% interest in Paragon Coal Pty Ltd, paid a 45% premium for the shares.

Tiaro Coal holds a 47.6% interest in Paragon Coal, which owns EPC 956 and EPC 957 in the Maryborough Basin in South East Queensland.

China Qinfa Group Limited holds 40.5% of Paragon.

Today's deal is a strong indicator of ICP's belief in the prospectivity and development capacity of Tiaro's prospective coal tenements in Queensland's Maryborough Basin.

Paragon has recently commenced a Pre-Feasibility Study on the T9 West Area that hosts a total Resource of 87 million tonnes of coal.

ICP's wholly owned subsidiary AceA Resources had acquired the stake for a total consideration of $3,051,000, or $0.135 per share.

Its chairman Mick Aw said ICP had taken up its position in Tiaro after evaluating various potential business opportunities.

"ICP regards the acquisition as an opportunity to participate in the Australia coal exploration and mining industry and considers Tiaro Coal a compelling investment.

"The acquisition will also be a catalyst for a strategic relationship with China Qinfa Group Limited, a group that has coal trading and coal mining assets in China, which may bring further opportunities in the development of coal resources across Asia and Australia."

Qinfa has a 40.5% interest in Paragon with Tiaro holding the remaining 47.6%.

"We are heartened by the confidence shown by ICP. We are confident that with such formidable support, Tiaro Coal will be able to move forward with its plans to develop a viable coking-PCI coal mine in Queensland," Tiaro managing director Dan Buckley said.

T9 West

T9 West is located within the northern portion of EPC 956 in the lightly explored Maryborough Basin.

Tiaro had last week completed two short exploration programs to test coal quality and resource extension as part of the T9 West Pre-Feasibility Study for its key south east Queensland coal project.

Four open holes and one cored hole were drilled for a total of 1,287 metres and 274 metres of cored sections.

Three large diameter drill holes totalling 291 metres drilling were also drilled over the declared Resource area with 103 metres of core recovered.

The initial laboratory results from large diameter samples for seams in the upper target sequence have confirmed coking coal properties with volatiles in the mid 30s and vitrinite reflectance likely between 0.8 and 1.0.

Further results are anticipated for the mid sequence seams (targeting hard coking coal) and lower sequence seams (targeting low volatile coking and PCI coals).

The region is well serviced by nearby infrastructure, including manpower, mining support services, road, rail and port facilities.

ICP and Qinfa had each invested an initial $1.5 million into Paragon Coal, which was established by Tiaro to fund and develop additional metallurgical coal resources within EPC 956 and EPC 957.

Qinfa subsequently invested a further $3.6 million to study the feasibility of an open cut coal mine in T9 West Area.

The PFS will study a potential 5.5 million tonnes per annum Run of Mine production from 19 coal seam groups that carry metallurgical coal.

Analysis

ICP's equity investment - consisting of buying 19.9% stake at a 45% premium - is a very good sign for Tiaro.

This is particularly true given ICP's existing 11.9% interest in Paragon Coal, which holds the prospective EPC 956 and EPC 957 coal tenements in Queensland's lightly explored Maryborough Basin.

That ICP is on record with, that it "considers Tiaro Coal a compelling investment" speaks volumes.

With such formidable support of Qinfa and ICP, underpins Tiaro's plans to move forward to develop a viable coking-PCI coal mine in Queensland.

It also augurs well for potential upside in the coal sector.

Proactive Investors Australia is the market leader in producing news, articles and research reports on ASX "Small and Mid-cap" stocks with distribution in Australia, UK, North America and Hong Kong / China.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Recommended For You