5th Apr 2007 09:15
Churchill Mining plc05 April 2007 5 April 2007 CHURCHILL MINING PLC ("Churchill" or "the Company") Discovery made at East Kutai coal project in Kalimantan, Indonesia Highlights: • Discovery made in exciting new coal region • 8 out of 10 holes drilled intersect coal • Best intercepts include coal seams of 19.25m, 13.8m and 9.35m thickness Churchill Mining Plc (AIM: CHL) announces that the Company's maiden drillprogramme at the East Kutai coal project in Kalimantan, Indonesia, hasdiscovered occurrences of thermal coal in multiple seams. The Company has drilled 10 holes, eight of which intersected coal seams greaterthan (or equal to) 0.5 metres in thickness. Best intercepts included 19.25metres in drill hole RP-003 from 26.25m to 45.50m; RP-008 which intersected13.80m of coal from 25.10m to 38.90m; and RP-006 which intersected 9.35m of coalbetween 22.00m and 31.35m. Apart from the high success rate of coal intercepts,the programme was notable because seven out of the 10 holes also intersectedmultiple coal seams. A full summary of the programme's results is set outbelow: Coal Intercepts Hole Details Hole From (m) To (m) Thickness Hole Depth Inclination RP-001 66.3 66.8 0.5 100.00m -90RP-002 15.4 17.7 2.3 100.00m -90 78.2 81.9 3.7RP-003 26.25 45.5 19.25 71.00m -45 45.8 46.75 0.95RP-004 31.25 34.9 3.65 70.00m -45 35.25 36.7 1.45RP-005 Nil 70.00m -45RP-006 22 31.35 9.35 50.00m -45 31.75 34.3 2.55RP-007 17.4 21.5 4.1 70.00m -45 53.6 54.9 1.3RP-008 23.6 24.6 1 53.00m -45 25.1 38.9 13.8 39.6 42 2.4RP-009 24.25 26.5 2.25 38.00m -45 26.8 27.7 0.9RP-010 Abandoned before target 40.00m -45 Drill core taken from the project was subsequently sent for analysis at IntertekCaleb Brett's laboratory in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The provisional resultsfrom those samples tested so far indicate the coal type to be sub-bituminouswith calorific values (air dried basis) ranging from 4,542-5,506 kcal/kg(average 5,096 kcal/kg), a total sulphur range of 0.10-0.22% (average 0.14%), anash range of 1.82-15.86% (average 6.58%) and an inherent moisture content ofbetween 11.96-21.44% (average 17.47%). "We are encouraged by the low sulphur, low ash nature of the coal beingintersected at East Kutai which is now finding new markets both as a primarycoal and a blending stock," Paul Mazak, Joint Managing Director of ChurchillMining, said. "It is still early days but we are delighted we've hit such solidthicknesses and repetitions of coal in our first programme." The drilling programme at East Kutai is being conducted as part of verificationwork being undertaken by Churchill designed to test the quality and continuityof coal outcrop targets identified in field work by the Company's consultinggroups PT Rimeneco Geological and Mining Services and GMT Indonesia. Churchillhas signed a 12-month Exclusivity Agreement with the owners of the East Kutaiproject, PT Techno Coal Utama. The East Kutai project area covers approximately 399 square kilometres made upof two blocks and is situated 110 kilometres northwest of the main populationcentre of Sangatta in the Regency of East Kutai. The Regency of East Kutai'scoal prospectivity has been re-evaluated by several companies in recent times.The catalyst for the renewed interest is a discovery called Pakar, made by aprivate Indonesian group, which is located approximately 55 kilometressouth-west of Churchill's ground. The Pakar project, as of December 2006, had aJORC compliant resource of 3.3 billion tonnes of thermal coal. Churchill currently has two drill rigs working at East Kutai and plans to add athird machine shortly. The rig is being relocated from the Company's Sendawarproject (also in Kalimantan) where the Company is preparing an extensive groundresistivity programme to refine targets for drilling later this year. The Company maintains an active sourcing programme for coal exploration andmining opportunities in both Indonesia and elsewhere and will continue toexamine more projects throughout 2007. ENDS Enquiries: Churchill Mining Plc Blue Oar Securities Plc* Parkgreen CommunicationsPaul Mazak/James Hamilton Olly Cairns Justine Howarth/Brendan McNamara+61 (0) 8 9388 0377 +44 (0) 20 7448 4400 +44 (0) 20 7851 7480 [email protected] [email protected] *Blue Oar Securities Plc was formerly Corporate Synergy Plc and acts as Nominated Adviser to Churchill. In accordance with the AIM Guidelines for Mining Companies, Mr Brett Gunter, ofPT GMT Services, is the qualified person that has reviewed the technicalinformation contained in this release. Notes to editors Churchill Mining Plc listed on AIM in April 2005. Its principle operations arethe South Woodie Woodie manganese project in Australia and the Sendawar and EastKutai coal projects in Indonesia. South Woodie Woodie The South Woodie Woodie project covers approximately 490 square kilometres inthe East Pilbara region of Western Australia. Owned via Churchill Mining'swholly-owned subsidiary, Planet Mining Pty Ltd, the project sits approximately400km southeast of Port Hedland in the highly prospective Pilbara manganeseprovince. Churchill owns the project 100%. To date much of the project areahas never been explored due to the presence of surface cover. Churchill hasconducted a versatile time-domain electromagnetic (VTEM) geophysics survey todefine targets for drilling. VTEM is a leading heli-borne technology that candetect conductive mineralization and related structures to depths of 400m belowsurface. Sendawar The Sendawar project in Kalimantan, Indonesia, covers more than 1,000 squarekilometres of prospective ground and lies in close proximity to two operatingopen-cut mines: Thai miner Banpu's newly commissioned Trubaindo operation, whichwill shortly be producing at a rate of approximately six million tonnes perannum (tpa); and the privately-owned Gunung Bayan mine which has been operatingsince 1998 and produces approximately 3.4 million tpa. Coal from these mines istransported by barge via the Mahakam River to the port of Samarinda. TheSendawar project is located approximately 50km from the Mahakam River. East Kutai Churchill announced on 15 February 2007 that it had signed an ExclusivityAgreement with PT Techno Coal Utama to enable it to conduct due diligence workon the thermal coal project, the preliminary drilling results from which areannounced above. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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