PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner Atrum Coal on Wednesday announced plans to spin-out its Canadian assets into a separately listed company.
The Canadian assets, which include Naskeena, Bowron River and Peace River, would be separately listed on the ASX, with the accompanying initial public offering helping to raise cash to develop the greenfield projects.
Existing Atrum shareholders would receive a substantial share position in the new vehicle, at no cost.
“This is a huge win for shareholders. They will benefit from additional returns by way of shares in an exciting new exploration venture in one of the most attractive mining jurisdictions in the world, leaving Atrum free to focus its management time and balance sheet on developing the tier-one Groundhog project,” said Atrum MD Eric Lilford.
He noted that Atrum was currently finalisng the capital structure and management team for the spin-out vehicle, as well as determining the timing for a shareholder meeting to approve the spin-off.
The spin-out would give Atrum the opportunity to focus on its Groundhog asset, which was currently the subject of a prefeasibility study.
A scoping study has suggested that the project, located in British Columbia, would require a capital investment of $62-million, and could deliver 1.8-million tonnes a year of saleable product, generating a before-tax cash flow of $107-million.
The project was expected to produce some three-million tonnes a year of saleable product, with first shipments earmarked for the fourth quarter of next year.