Beacon Hill Resource BHR Appointment of Coal Processing Specialist

  Beacon Hill Resource (BHR) - Appointment of Coal Processing Specialist

RNS Number : 1903H
Beacon Hill Resources plc
09 July 2012
 



                                                                   9 July 2012

                                       

       Beacon Hill Resources Plc / ASX: BHU / AIM: BHR/ Sector: Mining

                                       

           Beacon Hill Resources Plc ('Beacon Hill' or 'the Group')

                  Appointment of Coal Processing Specialist

 

Beacon Hill Resources  is pleased to  announce the appointment  of Mr.  Nathan 
Culkin  as  General  Manager  Coal  Processing  and  Quality,  Minas   Moatize 
Limitada.  Mr. Culkin will  be responsible for the  day to day operations  and 
development of the  mine processing and  coal quality functions  at the  Minas 
Moatize Coal Mine  and at the  Group's coal  loading facility at  the port  of 
Beira. 

 

Nathan is a  qualified extraction  metallurgist with  twelve years  management 
experience in the mineral processing industry.  Nathan has most recently  held 
the position of Plant Manager at Mineral Resources Development in South Africa
and has  previously held  various project  management and  mineral  processing 
roles at Sedgman South  Africa Limited and BHP  Billiton.  Whilst at  Sedgman, 
Nathan was a Project Delivery Manager for Riversdale's Benga Project. 

Justin Lewis, Chairman of  Beacon Hill, commented, "I  am pleased to  formally 
welcome him to the Group,  together with his many  years of experience in  the 
coal processing  industry.   Nathan's  experience and  understanding  of  coal 
processing and Mozambican coal will be a significant asset to the Group as  we 
continue to grow our operations in Mozambique." 

 

                                   **ENDS**

For further information, please contact:
Beacon Hill Resources Plc
Justin Lewis, Chairman                                         +61 3 9627 9910

Peter Wilson, Chief Operating Officer
info@bhrplc.com
Canaccord Genuity Limited (Nominated Adviser)
John Prior / Sebastian Jones                                  +44 20 7523 8350
St Brides Media & Finance (UK Media Enquiries)
Susie   Geliher   (susie@sbmf.co.uk)   /   Elisabeth   Cowell +44 20 7236 1177
(elisabeth@sbmf.co.uk)

 

                                       

                                    Notes

                                       

Beacon Hill Resources

Beacon Hill Resources  Plc is  focused on  building a  portfolio of  near-term 
production projects in commodities relating to the steel production industry. 
Beacon Hill  is  dual  listed on  London's  AIM  Market (Code:  BHR)  and  the 
Australian Securities Exchange (Code: BHU). 

 

Beacon Hill has three projects:

1.    Minas Moatize Project, Mozambique

2.    Changara Coal Project, Mozambique

3.    Arthur River Magnesite Project, Australia

 

Minas Moatize Project

Beacon Hill, through its subsidiary Minas Moatize Limitada, owns and  operates 
the Minas  Moatize Coal  Mine, which  is  one of  three operating  coal  mines 
producing and selling coal in the Tete Province of Mozambique. 

 

In February  2012,  Beacon  Hill  published the  DFS  for  the  Minas  Moatize 
Expansion, which  demonstrated strong  economics for  the project.   Financial 
modelling, based on  a 4Mtpa  ROM operation  producing on  average 2.2Mtpa  of 
saleable coking and  thermal coal using  a 13% discount  rate, demonstrates  a 
pre-tax NPV[13] of US$662 million and a post-tax NPV[13] of US$428 million. 

 

The Minas Moatize Expansion is being undertaken in three phases:

 

  Phase   Timing           Description             Transport   ROM (Mtpa)
Phase I   Current       Current operations           Road         0.6
                          (Phase I CHPP)
Phase II  H1 2013 Expansion of Current Washplant Road or Rail*    1.2
                         (Phase II CHPP)
Phase III H2 2014   New Life of Mine Washplant    Rail / Road      4
                         (Phase III CHPP)

*Rail will  be  used when  available.   Existing trucking  operation  will  be 
sufficient to transport Phase II production

 

Changara Coal Project

Beacon Hill acquired  majority ownership  in a  joint venture  to explore  and 
develop the  Changara Coal  Project  in the  Tete  Province of  Mozambique  in 
December 2011.  The Changara  Coal Project covers a  licence area of  184km^2, 
which is 70 times the  size of Minas Moatize.  The  project is located in  the 
heart of the highly  prospective coking coal  basin of the  Songo Area of  the 
Tete Province. 

The joint venture is a further step in Beacon Hill's wider expansion  strategy 
in the globally significant  coking coal region of  Tete and will provide  the 
Group with an opportunity to invest in a longer term development project  that 
has the potential to considerably enhance its resource base. 

Arthur River Magnesite Project

Beacon Hill  has recently  completed  the Preliminary  Scoping Study  for  the 
Arthur  River  Magnesite  Project  in  Tasmania,  Australia.   The  Study  has 
indicated that  the Project  has  robust financial  potential and  provides  a 
strong platform to move forward towards a full Feasibility Study and  securing 
a joint venture ('JV') and  / or off-take partner  to fund the development  of 
the Project. 

 

Financial modelling,  using a  discount  rate of  10% (real),  demonstrates  a 
pre-tax NPV of A$42 million based on a mine life of 17 years and a 292,000dtpa
ROM operation producing on average 100,000tpa of calcined magnesia. 

 

More details on Beacon Hill can be found at www.bhrplc.com.

 

                     This information is provided by RNS
           The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
END
 
 
MSCUKONRUUABRRR -0- Jul/09/2012 06:33 GMT