Universal Coal draws interest from Indian, Chinese, Korean...

Universal Coal draws interest from Indian, Chinese, Korean players CEO

Universal Coal (ASX: UNV), an Australia-listed coal miner with assets in South Africa, has attracted interest from Indian, Chinese and Korean players for its thermal coal assets, said CEO Tony Weber.

The AUD 73.5m (USD 73.06m) market cap miner has three thermal coal and two coking coal assets in South Africa with a total JORC compliant coal resource of 726m tonnes.

Interested parties are looking at off-take deals, stake purchases as well as corporate transactions, Weber said, however noting that Universal Coal has not yet been presented with any concrete offer. While the company will consider all options, it is currently focused on advancing its existing assets and in the long term, Universal Coal wants to become a mid-tier coal company.



Indian players such as JSW Energy and Essar Energy have been scouting for coal assets in South Africa, according to an India-based banker. Officials of JSW, which already has coal mines in South Africa and Botswana, have been travelling to South Africa very often and the company is likely to make more acquisitions there, he said. Adani Power has also been seriously looking for mines in South Africa and could be interested in thermal coal used for power generation. The banker also named IL&FS as a potential acquirer.

Universal Coal is targeting run of mine (ROM) production at Kangala by H1 2011. The company plans to commence feasibility on Roodekop project in H2 2011, and is targeting 1.5mtpa ROM with production development in 2012 at Brakfontein project.