SinoCoking Coal and Coke Chemical Industries, a vertically-integrated coal and coke processor, has obtained new business licenses for three coal mine companies in Baofeng County in the Henan Province of China.

The three companies are Baofeng Shuangrui Coal Mining Co (Shuangrui), Baofeng Xingsheng Coal Mining Co (Xingsheng) and Baofeng Shunli Coal Mining Co (Shunli).

In August 2010, the company announced that Henan Pingdingshan Hongli Coal & Coking Co (Hongli), which the company controls through contractual arrangements, signed agreements to acquire 60% of Shuangrui and Xingsheng.

The issuance of the new business licenses signifies the registration with the local State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) of the transfer of 60% of the equity interests of these two companies to Hongli.

SAIC has also issued a new business license for Shunli in connection with the registration of the transfer of 100% of the equity interest of Shunli to Baofeng Hongchang Coal (Hongchang), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hongli.

According to Sinocoking Coal, the issuance of these new business licenses is a step toward completing these acquisitions.

The company will transfer the equity interests that it controls in these three companies to Henan Hongyuan Coal Seam Gas Engineering Technology Co (Hongyuan CSG), SinoCoking’s joint-venture with the state-owned conglomerate Henan Province Coal Seam Gas Development and Utilization Co.

Currently, all three companies are subject to the provincial-wide mining moratorium in effect since late 2009, and once transfers of equity interests to Hongyuan CSG are completed, these companies will get new mining licenses and be able to resume operations.

It is expected that the three mines can officially resume production at full capacity before the end of this year.