Kolkata, 26th April, 2010: Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Limited the Australian subsidiary of Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd, the largest independent producer of met coke in India, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a contract with Joy Manufacturing Company Pty Limited for the supply of Longwall systems with an initial face width of 145 metres in 2011 with option for face extension up to 390 Metres longwall system in next 5 years for NRE No.1 mine. The contract also includes purchase of a new 183 metres face longwall coal clearance system to upgrade existing NRE Wongawilli mine Longwall system in 2013.

The Contract is estimated for a total value of $90 million approximately.

Under the contract JOY will supply and upgrade above-mentioned Longwall systems and also be responsible as a turnkey responsibility for NRE No1 Mine and will be Managing and coordinating for NRE Wongawilli upgrade.

The NRE No. 1 mine Longwall is scheduled for delivery and commissioning in Wongawilli seam for late 2011 which will facilitate production of over 3 million tonnes per annum from NRE No.1 mine. The option to upgrade the face width from 145 metres to 390 metres will facilitate significant operational efficiencies and create opportunities for further production increases.

“We are very pleased with this key development as it ensures our journey to expansion of two mines and to achieve proposed production target of 6 million tonnes per annum collectively from the both mines”, said Mr. Arun Kumar Jagatramka, Chairman of Gujarat NRE. “We have a large resource base of around 575 million tonnes within our leaseholds and these Longwall systems along with other modern infrastructure such as 4,000 tonne per hour material handling system & commensurate surface & underground infrastructure will set up both mines for future production increases beyond 6 million tonnes per annum from both the mines”, added Mr Jagatramka.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Brad Neilson, Managing Director of JOY said, “At a capacity of 3,500 tonnes per hour and with ultimate face width of 390 metres, this Longwall system will be amongst the most modern and largest Longwall systems supplied to any coal mine in Australia and globally”.

The upgrade of NRE Wongawilli mine Longwall system is scheduled for late 2013 which will facilitate to increase the production from a current level of 1.7 million tonnes per annum to over 3 million tonnes per annum for the particular mine.

About the Gujarat NRE
Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd (GNCL), the flagship company of Gujarat NRE group is the largest independent producer of met coke in India. Gujarat NRE is the only Indian company with coking coal mines in Australia having more than 575 million tons of Metallurgical Coal resource with excellent coking properties. The coal mines are owned through its subsidiaries – Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Limited, listed in Australian stock exchange ASX. The Company owns and operates two premium quality hard coking coal mines, NRE No.1 and NRE Wongawilli (being consolidated with NRE Avondale) in the Illawarra Region of the NEW South Wales and employs around 450 people (including contract labours). The group is all set to emerge as a global resource entity with core focus on coking coal.

For further details please contact:

Mr Sutirtha Roy at +91 9879019880 or mail to [email protected]