20 Apr 2017 07:00
REGENCY MINES PLC
("Regency" or the "Company")
Coal Update
20 April 2017
Regency Mines Plc announces, further to the announcements of 27th March and 9th March 2017, progress at the Rosa metallurgical coal mine ("Rosa", held through Carbon Minerals Corporation or "CMC") located in Alabama, United States of America, in the Warrior Coal Basin, and at Vali Carbon Corporation ("VCC"). Regency owns 20% of CMC and 20% of VCC.
Key Highlights:
Rosa mine
· All permits and approvals now received, including Mining Plan extension allowing use of highwall miner instead of auger drill
· Final preparatory work in progress including facing-off of initial face, sampling, widening of access road
· Highwall contractor to start coal operations imminently
· Initial offtakes on rolling one month contracts, with 7 day payment, until stable production achieved
Vali Carbon Corporation
· Permitted and bonded area already held for strip mining and auger mining of the Lower Banner seam
· Planned permit revision and amendments under way to add near term strip and highwall mining while further permits elsewhere in license are processed
· Stripping under way and mobile plant being brought to site for immediate production
· Mining Plan permits increase in stages to 100,000 tpm production
· 50,000 tpm offtake contract under negotiation
· Infrastructure including 500 tph wash plant and railway siding with 10,000 ton twin hopper allowing loading of 110 wagon trains to be recommissioned during 2017
Andrew Bell, Chairman, comments: "The environment continues to improve for the coal sector and as early movers and with offtakes available we and our partners continue our high speed drive towards production at both projects".
Background
Regency has interests including coal bed methane and oil exploration, and is now bringing into production metallurgical coal projects in the Appalachian coal belt in the Eastern United States. The Appalachians have long been one of the world's largest sources of coal, and some areas contain high quality metallurgical and specialist coals.
Regency has three existing coal projects, and an additional coal acreage interest. The Rosa mine, in Blount County, Alabama, is a 3,700 acre property containing a metallurgical coal mine with an NI 43-101 Reserve where commercial production is beginning from the Lower Pottsville Formation of the Pennsylvanian Period. The VCC property is a 5,500 acre property containing a metallurgical coal mine with significant coal deposits (so far not compliant with the codes for public company reporting of coal resources and reserves) in multiple seams of the Lee Formation of the Pennsylvanian Period, where production is expected to begin shortly. The third project is a 25% joint venture interest in 6,500 acres in Jackson County, Alabama, with a record of coal production from the Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation. Regency also holds a 20% interest in the permitted 287 acre Black Creek coal property in Alabama north of Rosa.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
For further information, please contact:
Andrew Bell 0207 747 9960 Chairman Regency Mines Plc
Scott Kaintz 0207 747 9960 Executive Director Regency Mines Plc
Roland Cornish/Rosalind Hill Abrahams 0207 628 3396 NOMAD Beaumont Cornish Limited
Jason Robertson 0129 351 7744 Broker Dowgate Capital Stockbrokers Ltd.