TAIYUAN, China, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Puda Coal, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PUDA) ("Puda Coal" or the "Company"), a supplier of China's high grade metallurgical coking coal used to make coke for the purposes of steel manufacturing, today announced that its subsidiary Shanxi Puda Coal Group Co., Ltd. ("Shanxi Coal") received final approval from the provincial government to consolidate eight coal mines in Shanxi Province.
On September 28, 2009, the Shanxi provincial government appointed Shanxi Coal as consolidator for eight coal mines in Yucheng City, Pinglu County. In February 2009, Shanxi Coal signed a letter of intent with Pinglu County to consolidate and restructure a coal mine area encompassing six coal mines. The municipal government approved the application and delivered it to the Shanxi provincial government for final review. The government of Shanxi Province reviewed the application and approved Shanxi Coal to consolidate an area encompassing eight coal mines. Shanxi Coal will consolidate the eight coal mines into five, increasing their total annual capacity from approximately 1.6 million to 3.6 million metric tons. The approval from the Shanxi provincial government was the last step required to move forward with the development and consolidation of the mines.
The Company has already commenced the technical geological prospecting process for the targeted coal reserves. In the near future, the Company will perform a comprehensive financial analysis of the project and then determine the most efficient plan to develop and construct the targeted consolidated coal mines.
"We are honored that the Shanxi provincial government granted Shanxi Coal this strategic opportunity to be one of the limited number of consolidators of coal mines in Shanxi Province," said Mr. Liping Zhu, President and CEO of Puda Coal. "This project will enable us to develop our coal mining business, move upstream in the coal industry, and continue our efforts to maximize shareholder value."
About Puda Coal, Inc.
Puda Coal, through its subsidiaries, supplies premium grade coking coal to the steel making industry in China for use in making coke. The Company currently possesses 3.5 million metric tons of annual coking coal cleaning capacity. Shanxi Province provides 20 - 25% of China's coal output and supplies nearly 50% of China's coke. For more information, please visit http://www.pudacoalinc.com/
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward- looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity as well as local and global economic and financial conditions. For example, our management's ability to successfully consolidate and increase output at the mines is subject to, among other things, the risks and uncertainties relating to the market conditions beyond our control. We will not, and we assume no obligation to, publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.
Company Contact:
Laby Wu, Chief Financial Officer;
Director of Investor Relations
Puda Coal, Inc.
+86-10-6439-2405
labywu@gmail.com
www.pudacoalinc.com
Crocker Coulson, President
CCG Investor Relations
+1-646-213-1915
crocker.coulson@ccgir.com
www.ccgirasia.com
Elaine Ketchmere, Partner;
VP Financial Writing
CCG Investor Relations
+1-310-954-1345
elaine.ketchmere@ccgir.com
www.ccgirasia.com