OREANDA-NEWS. May 25, 2011. CITIC Bowen Basin Pty. Ltd. (“CITIC Bowen Basin”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Resources Holdings Limited (“CITIC Resources” or the “Company”) (HKEx stock code: 1205) entered into Sale Agreement with each of Mapella Pty Ltd., Winview Pty Ltd., KC Resources Pty Ltd. and NS Coal Pty Ltd. (currently Coppabella and Moorvale Joint Venture (“CMJV”) participants) for the sale of 2.8%, 2.8%, 1.6% and 0.8% respectively of the Codrilla Project, for an aggregate consideration of AUD51.2 million (or HKD419.8 million), reported the press-centre of CITIC Resources.

In addition, CITIC Bowen Basin has conditionally agreed to transfer its remaining 7% interest in the Codrilla Project to CITIC Australia Coppabella Pty Limited ("CITIC Coppabella"), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and a CMJV participant. Alongside the transactions, CITIC Bowen Basin or a related entity shall maintain the right to market all coal produced from the Codrilla Project in the PRC for the life of the Codrilla Project.

Meanwhile, BB Interests Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Macarthur Coal Limited (“Macarthur Coal”), has also agreed to transfer its interests in the Codrilla Project to the CMJV. The transactions shall be subject to certain conditions to be satisfied on or before 30 June 2011.

Upon completion of the transactions, the Company will continue to hold 7% of the Codrilla Project through its interests in CITIC Coppabella. The remaining interests in the Codrilla Project shall be held by other CMJV participants according to their respective interests in the CMJV (please refer to the appendix below).

Mr. Zeng Chen, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, “The partial selldown of Codrilla has enabled the Company to not only realize considerable returns for its investment, but also demonstrate the value of the exploration project portfolio jointly owned and developed by the Company and Macarthur Coal. Moreover, the synergy effect obtained from blending of the coal from Codrilla and Coppabella/Moorvale, and the economies of scale through sharing of infrastructure, management and other resources between Codrilla and Moorvale will ensure a timely development and ramp-up of Codrilla as well as better economic returns. The marketing right to the PRC also helps the Company reach the fast growing PRC market. As the largest shareholder of Macarthur Coal and its major joint venture partner, we will continue to cooperate with Macarthur Coal to further develop other projects in their portfolio.”

Responding to the latest encouraging developments in the Company's coal sector, Mr. Zeng added, “The recent significant increase of respectively 361% and 202% of Coal Resources at West Rolleston and Vermont East/Willunga projects, in which we have direct interests, contributed to an immediate leap of the resources of our coal portfolio. The partial sale of the Codrilla Project, coupled with our potential coking coal offtake from Bathurst, has all supported the strong growth potential of our coal investment and opened up huge doors of opportunities for us to expand and sustain long-term growth in the sector.”

For information, Macarthur Coal announced on 11 May 2011 a 38% increase in managed Coal Resources to 2.26 billion tonnes, subsequent to the significant upgrades at two of its projects, West Rolleston and Vermont East/ Willunga, where CITIC Resources Australia Pty Limited holds direct interests of 10% and 15% respectively.