News Archive

11 August 2004

Land sale, French subsidiary Board appointment and 2.5 million fleet equipment purchase

ATH Resources plc (“ATH” or “the Company”), one of the UK’s largest coal producers, today issues an update on business developments.

Land sale

At the end of August 2004, ATH Resources will complete on the sale of part of a former opencast coal site in East Ayrshire for £425,000 to a local house builder. The disposal comprises of 18 acres of land with outline planning permission to construct 36 houses.

French subsidiary Board appointment

Monsieur Michel Guy has joined the Board of SRMMC, ATH Resources’ French opencast mining subsidiary, with responsibility for developing markets for the Company’s forthcoming coal sites in France. He has held a number of leading positions in the French coal market, in both State owned and private businesses. Michel is currently the Managing Director of Charbon et Fuels in Paris where he places approximately 2MTpa of coal into the French and European markets.

Fleet equipment purchase

The Directors have approved the acquisition of five Terex dumptrucks and two Caterpillar bulldozers as part of its strategy to maintain an efficient and modern fleet. The total cost of the purchase is £2.5m and represents approximately 7% of the replacement value of the current fleet. ATH Resources plant fleet is generally financed and operated over five to ten years and has an operational life in excess of 20,000 hours.

Tom Allchurch, Chief Executive of ATH Resources, said:

“These are all exciting developments for ATH Resources, with the successful flotation behind us, we feel that the addition of Michel, whose local knowledge and experience of the French coal market will be of great value to us as our growth strategy continues to develop.”

For further information:
ATH Resources
Tom Allchurch, Chief Executive	Tel: +44 (0) 1302 760 462
tom.allchurch@ath.co.uk
Media enquiries:
Abchurch
Sarah Hollins	Tel: +44 (0) 113 390 6388
sarah.hollins@abchurch-group.com
Henry Harrison-Topham	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700
henry.ht@abchurch-group.com	www.abchurch-group.com

Notes to Editors:

ATH Resources is an AIM-listed operator of opencast coal mines in the UK with its current two operational mines, Skares Road and Garleffan, located near New Cumnock, East Ayrshire in Scotland. The Company is currently the third largest producer of coal in the UK producing approximately 1.6 million tonnes per annum. Coal was used to generate 34.7 per cent of the UK’s electricity in 2003 and the Company holds coal supply contracts with four of the UK’s main electricity generating companies.

The management team has been in place since 1998. It acquired the rights to operate (and subsequently acquire) the Skares Road mine with support from The Alchemy Plan and Bank of Scotland. Following ATH Resource’s incorporation in October 2003, and backed by a follow on investment from The Alchemy Plan, the Company acquired the Garleffan mine in November 2003.

In addition to the Skares Road and Garleffan mines, the Company also has a number of other coal mining projects in Scotland and two through its French subsidiary, SRMMC including a series of six existing coal concessions in south-central France, covering an area of 4,500 hectares with an estimated resource of approximately 4.5 million tonnes of recoverable coal. In addition, it also has 287 hectares of land with a coal resource of approximately 3.2 million tonnes in Central France.

ATH Resources listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in June 2004 under the symbol ATH.L

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