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“NAE requests that the trading halt take immediate effect and continue until the release of [an] announcement, in any case no later than the commencement of trading Wednesday, 13th June 2012,” the company said in its statement to the ASX.
On its website NAE says it has invested in coking and thermal coal projects in South America to date but its focus is to build a strong portfolio of coal projects through acquisition and development.
“As part of its ongoing strategy, NAE continues to assess further opportunities in Colombia and globally with a view to acquiring and developing those that will create significant shareholder value,” it says.
In 2011 it completed five acquisitions involving three coking coal concessions in central Colombia and three thermal coal concessions located in the Cesar Basin in northern Colombia.
The Terranova project in central Colombia is the company’s most advanced project, for which it has entered into a binding agreement with the operators and owners of the producing Terranova mine to undertake the mechanisation and expansion of the coking coal operation.
NAE is currently progressing mining and environmental permits required for the Terranova mine expansion including an extension of the 887T concession term.
It is also undertaking exploration and further studies at the adjacent FL2-151 concession, aiming to underpin a long-term project at Terranova exceeding a 10-year mine life with an initial minimum production rate of 400,000 tonnes per annum clean coal production.
The company has announced a maiden JORC resource estimate of 3.6 million tonnes medium volatile hard coking coal (1.6Mt measured and indicated, 2Mt inferred) at the Terranova 887T concession.
The company also has JORC conceptual exploration targets on adjacent concession FL2-151 of 10-18Mt and on nearby concession application JBI-11091 of 20-40Mt.
In the Cesar Basin, NAE commenced a three-hole drilling program at La Miel project in April 2012, to confirm the existence and thickness of coal seams.
Based on seismic interpretation, La Miel contains a conceptual exploration target of 50-200Mt with depth to top of target coal formation ranging from 400m to 800m from surface.
