Companies: CHL   

Churchill Mining has increased its coal resource estimate at East Kutai in Indonesia by 465 per cent to 1.4 billion tonnes.

Based in Western Australia and quoted on AIM, Churchill says the new estimate, compliant with the mining industry’s ‘JORC’ standard of measurement, results from modelling of the company’s drilling and exploration data by SMG Consultants. The total includes a measured resource up nearly threefold to 118 million tonnes and an inferred resource up 630 per cent to 972 million tonnes.

Churchill, whose managing director, Paul Mazak, points out that drilling to date has covered only 20 per cent of the total target area, has a minimum coal reserve (more definite than a resource) target of 150 million tonnes of coal at East Kutai. The company says it hopes to bring the project into production by the end of next year.

Churchill has 75 per cent of the East Kutai project, as well as 70 per cent of the Sandawar coal bed methane project in Indonesia’s Kalimantan region and a remaining 20 per cent of Western Australia’s Woodie Woodie manganese project. Its shares, which soared from 9p to 75.5p between March 2007 and last June, now trade at 63.5p,valuing the company at £42.7 million, and could outperform several sector peers.

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Churchill Mining	AIM	£18.48m	27.50p	-1.00p
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Resource boost at Churchill			05/09/2008
Churchill lifts reserve target			27/05/2008
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