Continental Begins Construction on Penumbra in South Africa

First coal production is expected toward the end of 2011, ramping up to reach full production in the third quarter of 2012. The project is located just 3 km from Continental’s producing Ferreira open cast mine and 2 km from the company’s coal processing and Anthra railway siding on the coal-line to Richards Bay. Continental is currently exporting 40,000 mt of thermal coal per month through Richards Bay. The project has total JORC compliant resources of 25 million mt contained within the C-lower coal seam at an average seam height of 1.8 m and a depth of between 50 and 115 m, and is to be developed as a room-and-pillar mining operation. The Penumbra coal project is located in the Ermelo coalfield, just south of the town of Ermelo in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.