Altona Energy Regulatory News (ANR)

8 May 2007 10:48

Altona Resources PLC08 May 2007 8th May 2007 Altona Resources Plc ("Altona" or "the Company") Drilling Commences at Wintinna Coal Deposit Altona Resources plc (AIM:ANR) announces that drilling operations have commencedat the Company's Wintinna Coal Deposit in South Australia. A drilling rig andsupport vehicles arrived on site on 5th May and commenced drilling the followingday on the first of 27 proposed boreholes. The drilling program 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 initial objective of the drilling program is to validate and upgrade thepreviously defined coal resource according to the current Australian code forreporting coal resources and reserves. Another primary objective is theextraction of a representative bulk sample of approximately 5 tonnes for Coal toLiquids process testing. Geotechnical and hydrogeological programs will also be undertaken to supplementthe already comprehensive data available. Altona has appointed Resource andEnvironmental Management Pty. Limited in Adelaide, one of Australia's leadinggroundwater modelling and planning consultants, to conduct these programs inconjunction with its specialist geotechnical engineering partner, Snowden. The exploration program has been designed to allow for the definition of atleast 700 million tonnes of coal to be classified as Measured or Indicated underthe JORC Code for reporting resources. The program focuses on an optimum areawithin the Wintinna deposit for extraction by open cut mining methods. A heritage clearance survey conducted by the Native Title Applicants for thearea during April approved all proposed borehole sites for drilling. The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed by NormanKennedy, the Technical Director of the Company. Mr Kennedy holds a Bachelor ofScience from the University of NSW, and is a Member of the Australian Instituteof Mining and Metallurgy - Ends - For further information please contact: Altona Resources plc Christopher Lambert, Chairman +44 (0) 798 0017 108 Christopher Schrape, Managing Director +61 (0) 417 984 434 Nabarro Wells & Co Limited Hugh Oram, Director +44 (0) 207 710 7400 Parkgreen Communications Victoria Thomas +44 (0) 207 851 7480 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange