Yanzhou Coal buys two Australian coalmines for A$202.5 million

Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. China's fourth-largest coal producer, yesterday acquired two Australian coal producers, Syntech Holdings Pty Ltd and Syntech Holdings II Pty Ltd, for A$202.5 million ($222.08 million), in cash.

The Jining, Shandong-based company said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it has acquired the Brisbane-based companies from GS Power Holdings.

Both companies own and operate the Syntech open cut mine located in the Surat Basin in Queensland, which is 380km from the coal port terminal of Brisbane and about 460km from the Wiggins Island Coal Port Terminal at Gladstone.

Syntech has 723 million tonnes of coal resources and coal reserve of 440 million tonnes.

Currently, the mine is the first stage of the Cameby Downs coalmine project, with a production capacity of raw coal and commercial coal of 2 million tonnes per annum and 1.4 million tonnes per annum respectively.

The second stage of the project plans to raise the production capacity to 16 million tonnes of raw coal per annum and 11.4 million tonnes of commercial coal per annum.
 
Yanzhou, majority owned by the Yankuang Group, is engaged in coal mining, preparation and processing, sale and railway transportation of coal.
 
The company operates six coalmines in China and a regional rail network. Its wholly owned subsidiary Yancoal Australia operates a coalmine in New South Wales.