Gujarat NRE ties funds for Australian project

Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd said on Monday that its Australian unit, Gujarat NRE Minerals Ltd, has secured a $50 million long-term loan to support mine development. The company said a consortium of banks in Singapore, London, Antwerp and Hong Kong, led by India's Axis Bank, have provided the facility, with the parent company being a guarantor.

"The (loan) facility was obtained to support and sustain mine developments that are in progress at the NRE No 1 Colliery and NRE Wongawilli Colliery (being consolidated with NRE Avondale Colliery)," the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The subsidiary (GNM) is developing at its NRE No 1 Colliery three new roadways (for conveyor, rubber-tyred vehicles and track vehicles) into the Wongawilli Seam. "Development of these roadways will allow access to the virgin coal seam and replaces the old access in the exiting Bulli Seam workings," said the company.

At NRE Wongawilli Colliery, GNM is preparing its first longwall extraction panel (longwall 12), which is scheduled to commence in July this year and also establishing access to the Avondalre portion of the Colliery.

"The availability of the funds will ensure their progresses remain as per plan to ramp up total run-of-mine production to 7 million tones a year from the NRE No 1 Colliery and NRE Wongawilli Colliery by the year 2012-13," said the company.

Gujarat Coke is the largest independent producer of Met Coke in India, with a production capacity of over 1 million MT.