Altona Energy Regulatory News (ANR)

26 Jun 2007 11:06

Altona Resources PLC26 June 2007 26th June 2007 Altona Resources Plc ("Altona" or "the Company") PROJECT UPDATE Altona Resources plc (AIM: ANR) is pleased to provide an update in respect ofthe drilling programme at the Company's Wintinna Deposit and meetings with theSouth Australian Government in regards to the Company's Arckaringa Project. Drilling Programme at Wintinna Coal Deposit The drilling programme is progressing positively with the completion of 4 largediameter (200mm) boreholes at the Wintinna Coal Deposit located in centralnorthern South Australia. A total of 816 metres have been drilled with coresamples totaling 194 metres including a total of 30 coal seams sampled. The coalseam intersections confirm thicknesses intersected in boreholes drilled duringprogrammes in 1981, 1982 and 1983. The drilling programme will continue for afurther six months and is part of a feasibility study currently underway for thedevelopment of an integrated Coal Mine, Coal-to-Liquids and Power CogenerationPlant to be located at Wintinna. The drilling program has been designed for the definition of at least 700million tonnes of coal to be classified as Measured or Indicated according tothe current JORC Code for reporting coal resources, as required for a BankableFeasibility Study for the Arckaringa Project. The Wintinna Deposit coal resourcewas previously calculated according to the equivalent JORC Code standard of thetime. The programme focuses on an optimum area for extraction by opencut miningmethods. Another primary objective is the extraction of a representative bulksample of approximately five tonnes for coal gasification and coal to oilprocess tests and for coal washability testwork. Geotechnical and hydrogeological programmes have also been implemented tosupplement the already comprehensive data available. South Australian Government Meetings As part of ongoing project updates to the South Australian Government, Altonadirectors met this month with the Minister for Mineral Resources Development,the Honourable Paul Holloway MLC, and the Executive Director of the State Officeof Minerals and Energy Resources, Dr Paul Heithersay. Altona provided a briefing on the Company's plans and the encouraging resultsfrom pre-feasibility studies on the Arckaringa Project, the base case for whichcomprises a 10 million tonne per annum coal mine based on the Wintinna deposit,feeding a 10 million barrel per annum Coal to Liquids Plant and integratedCombined Cycle Power facility with a surplus generating capacity of 560 MW. The briefing was positively received with Minister Holloway and Dr Heithersayexpressing a high degree of interest in and support for the Project'sobjectives. The meeting resulted in the government setting in motion the necessary steps forAltona to brief the multiple government agencies involved in formal approvalprocesses. In addition the Company has been requested to present the currentstatus of the project to the Chairman and CEO of the Olympic Dam ExpansionCommittee. To facilitate these meetings, a government officer is being appointedto liaise between the government and the Company. Minister Holloway also extended an invitation to the Company to brief the StateCabinet, in recognition of the important role that the Project could play inmeeting South Australia's growing fuel and power needs. According to official forecasts of electricity supply and demand by the SouthAustralian Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council, South Australia isfacing a 'reserve' supply deficit of over 900 MW by 2015, not including the morethan 500 MW of new power demand from the Olympic Dam Expansion project and othernew mineral based developments over the next decade. The State also imports allits petroleum fuel requirements, which are set to rise rapidly on the back ofthese developments. The information contained in this announcement in respect of the drillingprogramme has been reviewed by Norman Kennedy, the Technical Director of theCompany. Mr Kennedy holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of NSW, andis a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy - Ends - For further information please contact: Altona Resources plcChristopher Lambert, Chairman +44 (0) 798 0017 108Christopher Schrape, Managing Director +61 (0) 417 984 434 Nabarro Wells & Co LimitedHugh Oram, Director +44 (0) 207 710 7400 Parkgreen CommunicationsClare Irvine / Justine Howarth +44 (0) 207 851 7480 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange