New Saraji
On 18 July 2008, BMA entered into an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the New Saraji exploration project from New Hope for about US$2.4 billion. The agreement is subject to regulatory and third party approvals, which could take between two and six months to complete. BMA will not own the project until these approvals have been obtained.
New Saraji is an undeveloped metallurgical coal resource located to the east of the Saraji mine near Dysart, comprising Mining Lease Application (MLA) 70383 and Exploration Permit Coal (EPC) 837.
Based on preliminary drilling by New Hope, the project has high quality mineable metallurgical coal resources of 690 million tonnes (156 million tonnes Indicated plus 534 million tones Inferred level of confidence, totalling 690 million tonnes - New Hope Coal ASX and Media Release 17 July 2008). The deal also includes a 10 Mtpa entitlement at Abbot Point port expansion. Following completion of regulatory approvals, BMA will embark on a two to three year exploration program to confirm the estimated coal resources and support further studies to assess the development potential.
The acquisition is consistent with BMA’s growth strategy, focused on delivering value from long life, high quality coal resources.
BMA will provide further updates on any planned development of the project.
