Expands Operational Team with Key Appointments
Perth, June 5, 2014 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Atrum Coal NL (
ASX:ATU) (ATRCF:OTCMKTS) ("Atrum" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Ben Smith to the Executive Team as Vice President - Operations and Mr Rick Greene as Project Manager (Mining Operations).
Commenting on the appointments, Chairman Mr James Chisholm stated:
"We are pleased to welcome Ben and Rick to the team. They have managed operations for a number of coal mines and both have a comprehensive understanding of what is required to deliver a productive and world class mine safety culture at our Groundhog Anthracite Project in British Columbia, Canada."
Mr Ben Smith - VP Operations
Mr Ben Smith MMinEng (Mine Management); Grad Dip (Mine Vent); BEng (Mining, Hons); BComm (Mgmt); MAusIMM; has spent 15 years in coal mine operations specialising in mine planning and design, mining engineering, safety, risk and mine management. He has held a range of significant mine management positions including:
- Operations Manager/Manager of Mining Engineering - Baal Bone Colliery
- Project Manager/Manager of Mining Engineering - Teralba Colliery (Xstrata)
- Technical Services Manager - Tahmoor South Project (Xstrata)
- Manager of Mining Engineering (Mine Manager) - Ulan U/G (Xstrata)
- Senior Mining Engineer - Ulan West U/G (Xstrata)
- Mining Engineer - West Wallsend Colliery (Xstrata)
- Underground Miner - Bellambi West (Allied Coal)
As Principal Mining Engineer, Mr Smith has provided a range of consulting services to a number of major operators, suppliers and coal consumers including Anglo American, BMA, Idemitsu, Ensham Resources, POSCO, Caterpillar, Shanxi Coal and Yancoal. He has also worked on overseas assignments in China, India, Canada and Turkey.
Mr Smith will be part of the Executive Management Team of Atrum, working to deliver environmentally sustainable, safe and productive underground mine operations, low-impact surface infrastructure and cost-effective logistics solutions for the Company. He will spend considerable time in Canada, at both the Port of Stewart and at the Groundhog site.
With additional experience in product development, Mr Smith will work with the Executive Team and the Board to optimise product specifications that maximise returns from the Groundhog Anthracite Project, particularly in the high-value specialty metals, industrial and water filtration markets.
The recently completed Pre-feasibility Study highlighted the long mine life expected from low-impact underground operations in just a small section of the Groundhog Project. Mr Smith will work closely with Mr Rick Greene as well as the North American management team to progress permitting from bulk sample through to small mine development and ongoing full scale mining.
Mr Rick Greene - Project Manager (Mining Operations)
Mr Rick Greene BEng (Civil); BSc. has spent over 30 years in major mining, civil, and mechanical engineering projects, with the last 25 years in project leadership roles.
Mr Greene has held senior positions with a number of major miners including 16 years at BHP Australia Coal's Saraji Mine in Queensland where he ultimately served as Production Manager achieving five consecutive years of record coking coal exports. He has also held senior positions with BHP Copper and UGL Resources and held positions of Coal Preparation Plant Manager, Site Manager, Production Manager and Operations Manager in his career. Much of his time has been based in remote locations where he has had to establish site policies and procedures, manage training, safety and risk whilst delivering above target performance. Like Mr Smith, Mr Greene willspend a considerable portion of his time in Canada.
About Atrum Coal Limited
Atrum Coal Limited (ASX:ATU) is a metallurgical coal developer. The Company flagship asset is the 100%-owned Elan Hard Coking Coal Project in southern Alberta, Canada. Elan hosts large-scale, shallow, thick, hard coking coal (HCC) deposits with a current JORC Resource Estimate of 298 Mt (70 Mt Indicated and 228 Mt Inferred). Comprehensive quality testing of Elan South coal on samples from the 2018 exploration program, combined with review of substantial historical testwork data for the broader Elan Project, has confirmed Tier 1 HCC quality.
The initial focus for development is the Elan South area, which is located approximately 13 km from an existing rail line with significant excess capacity, providing direct rail access to export terminals in Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Elan South shares its southern boundary with Riversdale Resources Grassy Mountain Project, which is in the final permitting stage for a 4.5 Mtpa open-cut HCC operation. Around 30km to the west, Teck Resources operates five mines (the Elk Valley complex) producing approximately 25 Mtpa of premium HCC for the seaborne market.
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