Vitol will advance a $US20 million loan to Beacon Hill and will be appointed the exclusive agent to manage export sales from Minas Moatize.

Beacon Hill cited Vitol’s experience with international coal transactions including worldwide trades exceeding 25 million tonnes of coking and thermal coal and a sales turnover of $US297 billion in 2011.

Beacon Hill chairman Justin Lewis said the partnership would provide access to one of the largest coal marketing and trading networks in the world.

“This milestone relationship provides Beacon Hill with an optimum route to market for our coal products, as well as enabling us to meet our existing commitments under our off-take agreement with Global Coke,” he said.

“In addition to benefiting from Vitol's global coal marketing expertise, we also have the advantage of an injection of funding which will assist the company with current and future funding requirements as we increase our presence in the globally significant coking coal region of Tete.”

Mozambique’s Tete region is estimated to be the largest untapped coal province in the world.

Beacon Hill is listed on London’s AIM and plans for a dual listing with the Australian Securities Exchange.