LontohCoal, a South African coal company, planned to launch an initial public offering on the Main Board in Hong Kong in the second half of this year, chief executive officer Tshepo Kgadima said on Tuesday.

If the IPO takes place, LontohCoal will be the first South African company to be listed in Hong Kong.

The company seeks 300 million to 500 million U.S. dollars from the IPO in Hong Kong, followed by secondary listing on Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the fourth quarter.

Of the raised capital, 55 million U.S. dollars will be used for developing steam coal plants to produce liquid energy fuel, and 200 million U.S. dollars for expanding transportation network like railroads.

LontohCoal has hired Samsung Securities Asia Ltd. as lead manager of its initial public offering in Hong Kong.

The company has four coal mining projects in South Africa and Zimbabwe producing and exploring coking, anthracite and thermal coal. It boasts an aggregate of more than 7 billion tonnes of reserves and resources.