30 Apr 2009 16:11
Atlantic Coal plc / Index: AIM / Epic: ATC / Sector: Mining
30 April 2009
Atlantic Coal Plc ('Atlantic' or 'the Company')
Raises £500,000 to further develop US Coal mine
Atlantic Coal plc, the AIM listed open cast coal production and processing company with activities in Pennsylvania, USA, has raised £500,000 through the issue of 100,000,000 new ordinary shares in Atlantic, via a placing by HB Corporate Limited to a combination of new institutional investors as well as existing shareholders, including certain directors of the Company ('the Placing'). The funds raised will be used for working capital purposes.
Atlantic Coal's Managing Director Stephen Best said, "Our ability to raise funds underlines the quality of the resource at Stockton and the ongoing faith amongst institutional investors and the Board that the project has the ability to generate real value going forward."
The following directors of the Company have participated in the placing:
| Name of Director/ shareholder | Number of Ordinary shares subscribed to at 0.5p | Number of Ordinary Shares held following placing | New percentage holding of total ISC* |
| Adam Wilson (Non-Executive Chairman) | 12,000,000 | 86,233,000 | 6.47% |
| Julie Kuenzel** | 2,000,000 | 2,250,000 | 0.17% |
| Peter Chinneck (Non-Executive Director) | 12,000,000 | 156,000,000 | 11.70% |
| Mary Best*** | 12,000,000 | 132,328,633 | 9.92% |
* Issued Ordinary Share Capital of the Company
**Julie Kuenzel is the spouse of Gregory Kuenzel, Finance Director of the Company
***Mary Best is the spouse of Stephen Best, Managing Director of the Company
Prior to the Placing, Mary Catherine Best, Stephen Best, and other members of the Best Family Concert Party, as defined in the Company's Admission Document dated 17 October 2007 held 212,385,199 ordinary shares equating to 17.22% of the issued share capital of the Company. Following the Placing, the Best Family Concert Party will hold 224,385,199 ordinary shares equating to 16.82% of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company. The participation of the directors listed above in the Placing constitutes a related party transaction under the AIM rules for Companies and the Board of the Company, with the exception of such directors, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, HB Corporate Limited, consider that the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as its shareholders are concerned.
**Ends**
For further information on the Company, visit: www.atlanticcoal.com or contact:
| Stephen Best / Greg Kuenzel | Atlantic Coal plc | Tel: 020 7182 1747 |
| Rod Venables / James Reeve | HB Corporate Ltd | Tel: 020 7510 8600 |
| Daniel Fox-Davies | Fox Davies Capital | Tel: 020 7936 5230 |
| Hugo de Salis / Chris Welsh | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
About the Company:
Atlantic Coal owns and operates the Stockton Colliery which comprises an opencast anthracite mine and an adjacent anthracite washing plant. The mine is an established non-union surface mine encompassing circa 900 land acres in the Hazle Creek Valley, Pennsylvania and has an estimated proven reserve of 4 million tonnes. Mining of raw coal is from the high quality mammoth seam, while washing and sizing takes place in the 150 tonne per hour coal preparation plant. J T Boyd Company, the Company's Competent Person, estimated that there is over 10 years of mine life from existing reserves at an average production rate of 400,000 Run of Mine ('ROM') tonnes per annum. Based on historic production levels, the mine is capable of and is projected to produce approximately 450,000 ROM tonnes of coal per year. Mining operations are conducted by the use of hydraulic excavators. Uncovered raw coal is then loaded into 100 tonne trucks for delivery to the onsite preparation plant. As each section of the mine is developed, mining progresses from the northern and southern faces into the basin. This yields a constant flow of raw coal to the preparation plant.