Coal from Excel’s Wambo, Wilpinjong and Chain Valley mines will be sold FOB Newcastle and is destined for the European market. The contracts run from January 2007 through December 2009 with deliveries scheduled consistently over this three-year period.

Thermal coal delivered will be of a quality consistent with the standard GlobalCoal SCOTA specification with ash of up to 15% ad, sulfur up to 0.75% and energy of 6000kcal/kg NAR.

The contracts have fixed coal prices, based on the SCOTA specification, for the three-year period, which provides an average fixed price of about $A70 per tonne FOB Newcastle for the 3.57Mt.

“These new contracts are an important part of Excel’s growth plan, which is now in its final stage,” the company said.

Following the expansion of the Wambo opencut mine in 2005 and 2006, the planned commissioning of the Wilpinjong mine in late 2006, and the North Wambo underground mine in early 2007, Excel Coal will be producing approximately 4Mt per year of additional export thermal coal from its New South Wales mines.

“These new term contracts, along with the previously announced new term contracts with Taipower and Cargill and additional demand from traditional, long-term customers in Japan, provide a solid demand base for Excel Coal’s growing thermal coal exports,” the company said.