ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, Oct 08, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — Gene Wusaty, Chief Operating Officer, Coal Division of SouthGobi Energy Resources Ltd., announced today that the company has discovered a new coal formation 10 kilometres southeast of the company’s producing Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine. The new coal discovery is approximately 33 kilometres (approximately 20 miles) north of the China-Mongolia border (see www.southgobi.com for location map).

The new coal occurrence was discovered through field reconnaissance work. Two trenches approximately three metres deep have been excavated and multiple seams have been uncovered with up to 15 metres of apparent thickness. To date, the coal field has been defined over a strike length of approximately 1,800 metres.
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Leading coal miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) has received bids from 17 companies – both national and international – for extracting coal from 18 abandoned underground mines belonging to three of its subsidiaries.

“We have received bids from 17 companies, eight of which are from overseas,” a source close to the development told media.

The bidders are Xindia Steels, Walter Southeast Asia, Afcon Infrastructure, Essel Mining and Industries, Sunflag Iron and Steel, Anglo American Services India, Indo-Australia Mining, Reliance Infrastructure, Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machineries, Essar Mineral Resources, Electrosteel Castings, Sainik Mining and Allied Services, Tiandi Science and Technology, Future Metals, European Ventures, Rio Tinto India and Bucyrus DBT Europe GmbH.

“The proposals are now being evaluated by the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI),” the official said. Read more

Companies engaged in mining, exploration and refining activities can now borrow up to $500 million a year from abroad for spending in India, 10 times more than the $50 million allowed till now. The finance ministry on Tuesday relaxed the external commercial borrowing (ECB) policy to allow entities in these sectors to borrow more from abroad by defining them as infrastructure companies. The move would benefit companies such as ONGC, RIL, Coal India, Essar Steel, Cairn India and Sesa Goa.

However, they have to take RBI’s permission before bringing overseas borrowings to Indian soil. Senior executives in oil major ONGC welcomed the move, saying it would help them raise long-term funds to support their deep-water drilling operations. The amendment will come into force the day RBI notifies the change under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, the ministry said in a statement.
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The CEO of the NT Resources Council, Scott Perkins, says the Bureau of Statistics figures for 2007-2008 are amazing, but not sustainable into the future.

He says the increase equates to $132 million.

“Really what your saying with this sort of activity is that it’s now possible with the prices that we’ve seen, to start to create wealth for all Australians with sustainable mining activities.

“The transformation into mining is sometimes quite difficult and a very expensive exercise”.

The CEO says the high demand for commodities in China in one of the reasons for the increase in activity.
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