APAC Coal opens at a discount

Explorer APAC Coal Ltd has listed at a discount on the Australian stock exchange after raising $7 million through an initial public offer (IPO) for a thermal coal mine in Indonesia.

APAC Coal opened at 16 cents, or 20 per cent, lower than the IPO price of 20 cents per share before gaining one cent higher to 17 cents by 1306 AEST on Thursday.

The company's flagship project is in east Kalimantan, Indonesia, and contains an estimated 5.1 million tonnes of thermal coal, which is used to fuel power stations.

APAC Coal chairman Paul Piercy said the coal would be sold principally into the domestic energy market, with the intent to enter the international export market soon.

"The mine is in good company with other successful coal mines as neighbours, which is very promising in terms of the quality of the coal and the potential of the deposit which is still largely unexplored," Mr Piercy said in a statement.

He said thermal coal prices have been buoyant, reaching more than $US120 a tonne from an earlier base price of $US25 per tonne.

APAC Coal sold about 35 million shares at 20 cents each to raise the $7 million.