The IPO raised $A17 million through the issue of 28.3 million shares at 60c per share.

The company said the funds would be used to continue its Bowen Basin exploration program to define JORC-compliant coal resources.

“Investors will benefit from a company with the intention of fast-tracking coal mining operations from its substantial tenement portfolio. The aim is to establish a JORC-compliant resource on at least one project by the second half of 2010,” Endocoal managing director Rod Austin said.

Endocoal’s tenement portfolio includes 10 exploration permits for coal covering 5000 square kilometres in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. To date, exploration licenses have been granted on six tenements.

The company plans to concentrate on its Orion Downs and Rockwood flagship projects where exploration drilling began in September 2009.

Drilling at Orion Downs has identified export-quality thermal coal in a number of coal seams aggregating up to 12m in thickness, less than 7 kilometres away from Xstrata’s Rolleston thermal coal mine.

The company has also registered interests in underground coal gasification activities for more than 50% of its coal tenement area.

Industry veteran Alan Broome is Endocoal’s chairman and the executive team is led by Austin, the former chief executive of Oceanic Coal (now part of Xstrata), which operated six coal mines in the Hunter Valley and Queensland.

Endocoal will list on the Australian Securities Exchange at the end of the month with a market capitalisation of $71.2 million.