Perth, June 4, 2014 (ABN Newswire) - Atrum Coal NL (ASX:ATU) (OTCMKTS:ATRCF) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary Kuro Coal Limited ("Kuro") (to list on the ASX under the ticker code 'KCO' following an IPO) has secured an additional 13 coal licences in the Panorama area, 20km west of Atrum's Groundhog Project in British Columbia, Canada.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Kuro Coal secures 13 additional contiguous coal licence applications for a total of 18,375 hectares in the Panorama area

- New ground is contiguous with the two coal licences of 850 hectares that are already subject to a proposed joint venture between Atrum Coal and Kuro Coal

- Notice of Work and licence conversion application initiated with drilling to commence shortly after grant

Commenting on the expansion of tenure, Executive Director Mr Russell Moran commented:

"Kuro has secured a dominant exploration footprint at Panorama. We are hopeful that a maiden exploration program this year will deliver new value opportunities for both Kuro and Atrum."

The newly secured coal licence applications are contiguous with the two granted coal licences that are already the subject of a proposed joint venture between Atrum and Kuro. It is anticipated that this new tenure will fall under the proposed joint venture arrangement which is expected to include a retained equity interest for Atrum in the Panorama project, a co-marketing arrangement and an infrastructure participation arrangement between the two joint venture participants.

The new tenure secured adds a further 18,375 hectares of exploration ground to an existing 850 hectares and represents a substantial increase.

Kuro is preparing a Notice of Works for the new ground and expects to lodge this together with an application to convert to coal licence status shortly in an effort to fast-track exploration. A maiden drill program is being designed and the Company is hopeful that exploration can commence later this year.

Atrum and Kuro are finalising documentation in relation to the proposed joint venture and spin-out and expect to make an announcement soon regarding the Record Date.

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