Cockatoo Coal: Enters Exclusivity Agreement With Mitsui In Surat Basin

Junior coal miner Cockatoo Coal Ltd. (COK.AU) will broaden its relationship with Japanese commodities trader Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (8031.TO) over coal assets in Queensland state's Surat Basin, the company said Friday.

Cockatoo said it had entered an exclusivity agreement with Mitsui over 3,900 square kilometers of coal tenements in which it currently holds 100% interest, with a view to allowing the trader to take significant stakes in the projects.

"The rationale ... is to facilitate the study of a proposed equalisation of interests between the company and Mitsui in these tenements...(to) enhance the development of the company's Surat Basin tenements," the company said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

Mitsui holds numerous junior stakes in Australian mining assets, particularly coal and iron ore, and is 49% joint venture partner on Cockatoo's Collingwood and Taroom thermal coal mines in the Surat basin.

Cockatoo purchased its majority stakes in the assets from Anglo American Plc (AAL.LN) as part of a consortium deal with Korean steel producers in July.

-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 2 8272 4689; david.fickling@dowjones.com

Mitsui (NASDAQ:MITSY)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024