Straits eyes RI coal project

Straits eyes RI coal project

MELBOURNE (Reuter): Mining company Straits Resources Ltd's managing director Brian Rear said yesterday the company was considering buying a coal project in Indonesia to boost cashflows, but declined to disclose the likely purchase price.

He also declined to identify the project, which he said was poised for development in the Kalimantan province.

"We are reviewing the technical data on those opportunities and looking at commercial realities, and we hope to complete that work in the next few weeks," Rear told Reuters.

A final decision on whether to buy the project, or possibly opt for a less mature coal project in the same region, would be made within six to eight weeks, he said.

Asked how the company would fund such an acquisition and continue other projects, he said: "We are examining options. We have A$17 million or so in the bank and we have cashflow...but we clearly don't have enough funds to do all that, so we will have to raise money," he said.

"We don't have any debt on our balance sheet, but we would certainly be looking at raising debt and maybe some equity raising."

He compared the unidentified project to "the coal equivalent" of the company's Girilambone copper project in New South Wales.