Excel said it expected to issue US$106 million of long term senior unsecured noted to lenders in the United States Private Placement Market.

The note issue was priced on November 12 and is expected to finalised early December. The notes will have a final maturity ranging from seven to 12 years.

On completion the US$ funding raised will be swapped back into Australian dollars.

Wambo, located in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley, is currently Excel's largest operating mine. The open cut operation produces 4.2Mt ROM coal per annum and holds resources of 690 million tonnes.

Proposed expansion plans at Wambo include extension of the open cut to produce 7.5Mtpa ROM and extension of the Wollemi drift to provide access to lower, unmined seams. Up to 104 million tonnes of coal – more than half current recoverable reserves – could be mined by longwall over the next 20 years.

Excel will develop longwall operations at the Wambo, Arrowfield and Bowfield Seams. The first underground target is a reserve of 6.5Mt in three panels in the Whybrow seam.

Development of the next underground target – possibly by 2007/08 - would be in the Wambo seam, under the existing Homestead/Wollemi workings. The conceptual mine plan lays out seven longwall panels in this part of the mine, with a reserve of 15Mt ROM.

The third and biggest underground targets are the Arrowfield and Bowfield seams with reserves in excess of 100Mt.

Development consent for the Wambo Rail Project was received from the NSW government last quarter and will be factored into the funding.