The company, backed by Whitehaven Coal investor Hans Mende, would raise $20 million in the initial public offering and is slated to list on the ASX next month with a market capitalisation of $85 million.

It will be one of the first coal IPOs of the year and will test the market’s appetite for coal stocks, which waned when prices plunged in the second half of last year.

While Malabar owns nearly 28% of Spur Hill – which lies near Anglo American’s Drayton mine and BHP Billiton’s Mt Arthur mine – it has the rights to increase this to up to 80%.

The underground coal project is expected to have two longwalls producing a total of 10 million tonnes of coal per annum, with first longwall production planned for 2017.

Spur Hill is estimated to contain 586Mt of soft coking coal, semi-soft coking coal and thermal coal.

The project would include longwall mining from up to five seams in the Wittingham Coal Measures within the underground mining area of EL 7429 for a mine life of approximately 25 years.

It would have a life-of-mine average saleable production of 7.2Mtpa.

The project requires the development of mine access drifts and a pit-top facility, including administration offices, bath house, workshop, store, coal stockpile areas, bunded fuel tank, laydown areas, car

parking and access road.

The development of ventilation surface infrastructure and possibly gas drainage infrastructure would be needed.

The project would also require a coal-handling and preparation plant, transportation systems and infrastructure.