Universal Coal acquires stake in third operation
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Universal Coal has, through a 49% owned subsidiary, entered into an agreement to buy Exxaro Coal’s North Block Complex assets, in Mpumalanga.
Universal and joint venture partner Ndalamo Resource have recently established a new company North Block Complex Proprietary Limited (NBC) to acquire the assets from Exxaro. NBC will be managed by Universal.
The fully operational North Block Complex was acquired by NBC for about A$18.6-million.
The acquisition follows Universal’s strong performance in the six months to December 31, which resulted in a 124% year-on-year increase in revenue to A$136.5-million, and a reduction in net debt from A$14.7-million to A$6.7-million.
The North Block Complex is an opencast operation located in proximity to South African State-owned utility Eskom’s Arnot, Tutuka and Komati power stations. It has historically achieved average run-of-mine (RoM) production of about 3.5-million tons a year over the past four years with sales of about 2.7-million tons a year.
Historical production from the North Block Complex was primarily sold into the domestic power station market, with a small amount of higher-value-sized product sold to traders.
Universal on Thursday noted that it plans to convert the North Block Complex into a multiproduct operation with the inclusion of the adjacent Paardeplaats project, pending relevant regulatory approvals and permits.
The company noted that the transaction is consistent with its diversification strategy and meets acquisition criteria of being immediately or near-term earnings per share accretive.
The acquisition is expected to be finalised towards the end of this year.
Universal also owns and operates the Kangala and New Clydesdale mines, in Mpumalanga.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation