The Company’s strategy is to create a significant mid tier coal company, through the expansion of activities at the Stockton anthracite mine, identifying additional sites in Pennsylvania and building its production and resource profile, by primarily acquiring defined assets in stable and recognised high quality coal regions.

At Stockton, significant investment and restructuring over the previous two years has created a strong platform for growth.  It is the Board’s intention to raise production and profitability of the operation following the restructuring and implementation of new mine plan, open up additional reserves on-site, which should extend the initial 10 year mine life from existing proven reserves, and increase production to 400,000 tonnes per annum.

The Board has identified opportunities to expand within the region and is involved in ongoing negotiations regarding adjacent sites, with the intention of acting as a regional consolidator in the Pennsylvanian Coal Field.  The Company is currently negotiating the recovery of reserves from other landowners on a royalty basis with 10 million tonnes probable additional reserves within 10 miles radius, and 300 million tonnes further probable reserves within 30 miles of Stockton.  Expansion within the local area has the potential to minimise upfront costs as the infrastructure, equipment and facilities already exist and are proven.

The Board is also committed to expanding its resource base and production profile through the acquisition of known / established coal exploration and production projects and sees an opportunity to consolidate coal assets in politically stable and established coal regions throughout the world.  To achieve this, the aim is to leverage its production assets at Stockton and utilise its paper to create maximum value for shareholders.

Stockton Colliery

The Stockton Colliery comprises a producing surface coal mine and adjacent anthracite preparation plant encompassing an area of approximately 900ha located in Hazle Creek in North-East Pennsylvania, a region renowned for anthracite.

The site, mined at various times from the 1900s, has an abundance of high quality anthracite in close proximity to the surface, making it economical to recover.  The mine has current Proven Reserves of 4.2 million tons run-of-mine (‘ROM’) coal, which equates to approximately 2.1 million tons of high quality, high carbon, washed anthracite, giving Stockton a forecasted 10-year mine life.  The Company believes that there is huge potential to increase the resource base, either by exploring the current deposit to depth or by broadening the range and targeting areas in the vicinity.  Further drilling is therefore planned.

Stockton has good facilities and infrastructure in place including a anthracite preparation plant capable of washing 300,000 tons of coal per annum as well as a 21-yard bucket hydraulic excavator.  Furthermore, it has good transport links, with state roads and the Norfolk and Southern rail line providing nationwide access.

Mining operations are conducted by Stockton’s union-free staff and operated using its own existing plant and equipment.  The current mine operations are being conducted under a valid mining permit issued by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection.  The Stockton Colliery trades through Atlantic Coal’s 100% subsidiary Coal Contractors (1991) Inc.

There is strong demand for Stockton’s coal output from the domestic home heating market and a non-seasonal industrial customer base that uses its output for filtration and metallurgical treatments.  The anthracite coal that Stockton yields is ranked as a higher energy fuel (containing over 86% carbon) than other more commonly used coals, like bituminous and lignite, and for this reason a premium can be attached to the washed output from the mine.  (READ MORE)

Adam Wilson, Non-executive Chairman

Adam Wilson qualified as a barrister before joining NM Rothschild in 1994 as a graduate trainee and later LCF Rothschild where he specialised in equity derivative and structured product sales.  In 1997 he joined Teather & Greenwood where he became Head of Derivatives before joining Hichens Harrison in 2003 where he was appointed Managing Director in October 2004 (now Religare Hichens Harrison plc).  Adam is an associate member of the Institute of Investment Management and Research and a member of the Securities Institute, as well as being a certified FFAS financial analyst.

Stephen Best, Managing Director

Stephen Best has over 25 years experience and an in-depth knowledge of opencast coal mining in the UK and the USA.  He has been involved in the formation of companies specialising in the acquisition of opencast coal mines and property development opportunities.

Dr Peter Chinneck, Non-executive Director

Dr. Peter Chinneck trained in medicine at the University of Southampton before joining the Royal Medical Army Corps in 1980.  He served as a Regimental Medical Officer reaching the rank of Major before leaving the Army in 1990 to pursue a career in aviation.  He has over 17 years experience as a commercial pilot flying commercial, freighter and air ambulance services.

Edward Nelson, Non-Executive Director

Edward Nelson is a qualified mining engineer and has been involved with a wide range of coal and resource projects throughout his 38 year career. He built his experience of the coal mining sector working for 12 years at British Coal across various locations and subsequently spent four years at Komatsu Ltd, the world's second largest manufacturer of mining equipment. After these positions, Mr. Nelson established EJN Engineering Ltd, a mechanical engineering company focussed on the design and production of bespoke mining and construction equipment. He continues to serve as Managing Director of EJN Engineering and in this role, has worked on a broad range of projects across a number of locations, including Pennsylvania. In tandem with this, he is also the founder and Managing Director of EJN Services Ltd, a recruitment company specialising in the engineering sector which has a range of blue-chip clients including Komatsu and Nissan.

(Updated from Atlantic Coal's website on 15th November 2011)

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