Thar coal mining: UK firm to raise funds for project

LONDON: A UK-listed mining firm Oracle Coalfields, planning Pakistan’s first large coalmine, has expressed its intention to move from the Plus exchange to the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) before June this year which will help the company raise funds for its ambitious plans, reported British newspaper Daily Express.

Aim is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, allowing smaller companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable to the main market. The Plus listing is a dry run before attempting the lengthy process of listing on Aim.

Oracle Coalfields is betting on coal to help Pakistan overcome chronic energy shortages which have led to power outages. Coal, which currently accounts for less than one per cent of Pakistan’s energy, could supply 17 per cent by 2025.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th,  2011.