- Bowen Coking Coal (BCB) comes out of a trading halt and exercises its call option to acquire the Bluff Mine in Queensland
- BCB has completed an $11 million placement and secured a $15 million debt facility to restart and operate the mine which has been under care and maintenance for one year
- Site mobilisation is expected before the end of the year and first coal production from the Bluff Mine is planned for the first quarter of 2022
- BCB has ended the day 2.09 per cent in the green to close at 17.5 cents
Bowen Coking Coal (BCB) has come out of a trading halt today and announced it has exercised its call option to acquire the Bluff Mine in Queensland.
Last month, the company entered a call and put option deal with MACA (MLD) to acquire the assets of the Bluff PCI (pulverised coal injection) coal mine for $5 million-plus potential royalty payments.
As part of the agreement terms, Bowen had between November 6 and 9 to exercise the call option and if not exercised, MACA could affect the sale through its put option within a further three business days.
The coking coal explorer has also completed an $11 million placement through the issue of 68.75 million shares at 16 cents per share which marks an 8.6 per cent discount to the last closing share price on November 8.
BCB also signed a 12-month term sheet for $15 million of debt financing from a private credit institution to support the restart of the Bluff Mine which has been under care and maintenance since the end of 2020.
Bluff Mine hosts a JORC resources of 13.5 million tonnes of Ultra Low Volatile PCI (ULVPCI) coal and is expected to be mined at a rate of between one and 1.2 million tonnes per annum over four to six years to supply the global steel industry.
To prepare the mine for production, Bowen Coking Coal contracted CMC Group in association with Comiskey Mining Services. Off‐site work is already underway and mobilisation to site is expected before the end of the year. First coal production from the Bluff Mine is planned for the first quarter of 2022.
Managing Director Gerhard Redelinghuys commented on the debt and capital raise funding.
“We are delighted with the strong reception we received from the market for our inaugural debt facility and capital raising which positions Bowen well as it transitions from coal explorer to multi‐mine coking coal producer,” he said.
“We look forward to recommissioning and operating the mine in a safe and responsible way to deliver high quality ULVPCI coal to our customers in the steel industry.”
BCB ended the day 2.09 per cent in the green to close at 17.5 cents.