Cobalt Coal Ltd Files Ammended NI 43-101 Technical Report on Proposed Property Acquisitions

Cobalt Coal Ltd (TSX VENTURE:CCF) ("Cobalt" or the "Corporation") advises the
filing of an amended technical report (the "Amended ESI Technical Report") which
evaluates the coal bearing properties located in Virginia, USA that are proposed
to be acquired by Cobalt (the "KMH/C&B Acquisitions"). The KMH/C&B Acquisitions
were the subject of Cobalt's February 29, 2012 and March 8, 2012 news releases.
The Amended ESI Technical Report replaces the original technical report prepared
in respect of the KMH/C&B Acquisitions which was the subject of Cobalt's news
release dated July 17, 2012 and was filed on Sedar on that same date (the
"Original ESI Technical Report"). The Amended ESI Technical Report is dated
effective May 24, 2012 which is the same effective date as the Original ESI
Technical Report.


Further to Cobalt's news release dated October 11, 2012, the Amended ESI
Technical Report was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Alberta
Securities Commission ("ASC") as a result of the ASC's continuous disclosure
review of Cobalt.


This news release summarizes the contents of the Amended ESI Technical Report
and also highlights the revisions to the Original ESI Technical Report, where
applicable.


Technical Report and Qualified Person

The qualified person responsible for the preparation of the Amended ESI
Technical Report was Mike Clisso, PE, President of ESI, Inc. dba Engineering
Services ("ESI"). The report was prepared in accordance with National Instrument
43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").


The following is a summary of the Coal Resources identified in the Amended ESI
Technical Report:


COAL RESOURCES SUMMARY



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      In-Place Underground Clean Coal Resources (Tons)      
                ------------------------------------------------------------
STM Group                                      Total Measured     Additional
                       Measured      Indicated    & Indicated       Inferred
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bituminous           51,411,000     68,297,000    119,708,000    127,580,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------



The quantity of Coal Resources contained in the Amended ESI Technical Report is
the same as that contained in the Original ESI Technical Report. The Coal
Resources estimated above are situated on six different tracts, each containing
multiple seams of coal as further detailed in the "General Information" section
below.


Upon having established the quantities of Coal Resources detailed above, a
pre-feasibility study was then performed on 4 seams located on 2 of the 6 tracts
to be acquired pursuant to the KMH/C&B Acquisitions. The economic evaluation
supported that the Coal Resources contained in those seams can be classified as
Proven Coal Reserves. The quality information for these 4 seams has established
that they are mid-vol metallurgical coals. The quantity of Proven Coal Reserves
contained in the Amended ESI Technical Report is the same as that contained in
the Original ESI Technical Report and is as follows:


METALLURGICAL COAL RESERVES SUMMARY



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASTM Group                        In-Place Underground Clean Coal Reserves  
                               ---------------------------------------------
                                        Proven       Probable          Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bituminous (tons)                   15,874,000              -     15,874,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------



The Amended ESI Technical Report estimated the net present value of future net
cash flows for the Proven Metallurgical Coal Reserves at different discount
rates and included the required startup and sustaining capital requirements.


In contrast to the Original ESI Technical Report, the Revised ESI Technical
Report reduced the annual net free cash flow, after capital expenditures, by the
amount of Federal and Virginia State income taxes such that the discounted net
present value of future cash flows were also presented on an "after tax" basis.


All applicable royalties and all additional Federal and State levies that were
contained in the Original ESI Technical Report were retained in the economic
analysis contained in the Amended ESI Technical Report which yielded the
following results: 


DISCOUNTED NET PRESENT VALUE OF FUTURE CASH FLOWS OF PROVEN METALLURGICAL COAL
RESERVES INCLUDING REQUIRED CAPITAL




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Discount                                                                    
 Rate                8 %         10 %         12 %         15 %         18 %
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before Tax                                                                  
 NPV        $255,706,793 $228,156,022 $204,577,795 $175,172,618 $151,376,258
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
After Tax                                                                   
 NPV        $149,438,400 $132,507,673 $118,075,210 $100,162,592 $ 85,750,283
----------------------------------------------------------------------------



The amended ESI Technical Report determined that the base case after tax Payback
period is 1.75 years and the IRR is 92%.


KMH Acquisition

The properties associated with the KMH Acquisition are located proximate to
Clinchco, Virginia. Cobalt will be acquiring leases on 6 separate tracts
covering approximately 5,400 acres which lie within the drainage areas of the
Cranes Nest River in Dickenson County, Virginia. Numerous seams of coal which
are historically mid-vol metallurgical coal have been identified to exist on the
tracts including the Hagy, Splashdam, Upper Banner, Lower Banner, Raven,
Jawbone, Upper Seaboard, Middle Seaboard, War Creek, Lower Horsepen, and
Pocahontas No.3. One of the tracts to be acquired, the Mill Creek Tract,
approximately 900 acres, is currently permitted for both surface and underground
mining (the "Permit"), with a pending amendment to include an adjoining lease,
approximately 700 acres, which will also be acquired by Cobalt pursuant to the
C&B acquisition described below,. The Amended ESI Technical Report estimated
Proven Reserves of mid-vol metallurgical coal included in the Upper and Lower
Banner seams of the Davis Tract and the Hagy and Splashdam seams of the Mill
Creek Tract. 


C&B Acquisition

The C&B Acquisition involves lands covering approximately 700 acres that are
immediately adjacent to the Mill Creek Tract being acquired pursuant to the KMH
Acquisition such that the Mill Creek Tract will expand in size from
approximately 900 acres to approximately 1,600 acres and is the subject of the
Permit extension described above. Proven Reserves of mid vol metallurgical coal
were established in two seams on this Tract, being the Hagy and Splashdam seams.



General Information

The following information is extracted from the Amended ESI Technical Report
which is NI 43-101 compliant. A full text version of the ESI Technical Report
has been filed on SEDAR and is available at www.sedar.com. 


ESI used the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM")
Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves ("CIM Definitions")
adopted by the CIM Council on December 11, 2005 during the classification,
estimation and reporting of mineral resources and reserves for the KMH
Acquisition and the C&B Acquisition.


ESI conducted physical inspections of all 6 Tracts including the Mill Creek
Tract and the Davis Tract for which the Amended ESI Technical Report has
assigned Proven Reserves. ESI has also examined the environmental conditions of
the Permit and has determined that all applicable environmental regulations have
been complied with such that the Permit is in substantial compliance with
applicable regulations. In addition, the Amended ESI Technical Report contains a
study of the other tracts associated with the KMH Acquisition and C&B
Acquisition presented accordance with the provisions of NI 43-101.


Basis of Presentation

The majority of the data reviewed to establish seam thickness and elevation has
been obtained from historical mining operations on currently abandoned
underground and surface mines. For the Mill Creek and Davis Tracts, a total of
110 data points have been analyzed for purposes of estimating seam thickness and
seam elevation. In addition to previous mining records, surface outcrop data has
been reviewed. Additionally, drilling and core data has been used to augment
geological and mining data that is available from previous mining records or
surface outcrop information. Information from a total of 38 drill holes was
reviewed during the evaluation.


Coal samples were taken and analyzed yielding the following quality data for the
Mill Creek and Davis tracts:




--  The dry basis clean coal Ash is less than 6.0 wt%; 
--  The Ash Fusion Temperature is high; 
--  The Free Swelling Index is consistently 7 or above; and 
--  The volatile matter (VM cc DB) ranges from 27 wt% to 31%.



This coal quality data supports the conclusion that the Proven Reserves reported
in the Amended ESI Technical Report may be classified as metallurgical in
nature.


ESI is of the opinion that the spacing of available coal quality data for the
Hagy and Splashdam on the Mill Creek Tract are adequate to support the
metallurgical quality determination. The Upper Banner and Lower Banner on the
Davis Tract also meet the necessary criteria to support the quality as being
metallurgical in nature. 


Coal Reserves

In accordance with CIM Definitions and the policies of NI 43-101, a "Reserve" is
defined as the economically mineable portion of a "Measured" or "Indicated
Resource" that has been demonstrated, after a thorough analysis of mining,
processing, economic and other relevant factors, to be economically justified
for coal extraction at the time of reporting. Coal Reserves are sub-divided in
order of increasing confidence into 'Probable' and 'Proven' Reserves,
respectively. A "Probable" Coal Reserve is defined as the economically mineable
part of an "Indicated' Resource", and in some cases of a "Measured Resource". A
"Proven" Coal Reserve is defined as the economically mineable part of a
"Measured Resource".


Two of the 6 tracts are of interest for immediate development, being the Mill
Creek Tract and the Davis Tract. Each of these 2 tracts contains numerous coal
seams that contain substantial coal resources. These seams have well known
extent, quality and mining conditions and have been historically proven to be
high quality metallurgical coals. Only the coal resources in the Hagy and
Splashdam seams on the Mill Creek Tract and the Upper Banner and Lower Banner
seams on the Davis Tract have been economically evaluated in the Amended ESI
Technical Report. The economic analysis supports the classification of these
resources as Proven Reserves. The coal shown to exist in the balance of the
seams has remained classified as Coal Resources.


The Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration ("MSHA") regulations provide
for mining to a 50' barrier against old mine workings as long as the specified
mining practice is followed. This is applicable for only the Upper Banner seam
on the Davis Tract and a small area in the Splashdam seam on the Mill Creek
Tract as old mine workings are known to exist in these seams. It is not
applicable in the case of the Hagy seam or in the southern section of the
Splashdam and Lower Banner seams on the Mill Creek and Davis Tracts insofar as
no other old mine workings are known to exist within those seams on those
Tracts. According to the Amended ESI Technical Report, Proven Reserves
quantities have been calculated based on compliance with these regulations
regarding setback. The following table summarizes the Proven Reserves contained
in the Hagy and Splashdam seams on the Mill Creek and on the Upper and Lower
Banner seams on the Davis Tracts. The quantity of Proven Reserves in the Amended
ESI Technical Report is the same as in the Original ESI Technical Report. Proven
Reserves are estimated to total 15,874,000 tons allocated as follows:


CLEAN COAL RESERVES SUMMARY



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  In-Place Underground Clean Coal Reserves  
Tract               ASTM Group                     (Tons)                   
                               ---------------------------------------------
                                        Proven       Probable          TOTAL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mill Creek          Bituminous       6,894,000              -      6,894,000
------------                   ---------------------------------------------
Davis                                8,980,000              -      8,980,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               15,874,000              -    15,874,0000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------



The coal seams on the Mill Creek Tract and the Davis Tract are flat lying to
very gently dipping and are generally unfaulted. These characteristics indicate
that these seams should be classified as "Low Type A" Geology Type to reflect
the minimal geological complexity in accordance with GSC Paper 88-21. These
Tracts contain underground mineable deposits. The remaining seams (other than
the Hagy and Splashdam seams on the Mill Creek Tract and the Upper Banner and
Lower Banner seams on the Davis Tract) were not economically evaluated in the
Amended ESI Technical Report; however, according to the Amended ESI Technical
Report, they contain significant quantities of Coal Resources that have been
estimated by the methodology of GSC Paper 88-21 as discussed below.


Coal Resources

In addition to the Coal Reserves described above, the Amended ESI Technical
Report identifies the existence of Coal Resources on the Mill Creek, Davis,
Tarpon, Fleming and Stanley Tracts. These tracts contain numerous seams with
well-known extent, quality and mining conditions which have been historically
proven to be high quality metallurgical coals. Volumes were estimated in
accordance with the methodology of GSC Paper 88-21. The Coal Resource volumes in
the Amended ESI Technical Report are the same as contained in the Original ESI
Technical Report.


The following table summarizes the in-place Coal Resources present in the
various seams on the Mill Creek, Davis, Tarpon, Fleming and Stanley Tracts and
includes the volumes on the Mill Creek and Davis Tracts that were classified as
Proven Reserves. It should be noted that they were included insofar as the
practices of GSC 88-21 specify that resources be reported inclusive of reserves,
based on the premise that such reserves are simply a special class of resources.



COAL RESOURCES SUMMARY (TONS)



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Total Measured   Additional
Tract         ASTM Group    Measured   Indicated    & Indicated     Inferred
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mill Creek    Bituminous   9,335,000  14,775,000     24,110,000    2,507,000
-------------           ----------------------------------------------------
ACIN                       3,389,000           -      3,389,000            -
-------------           ----------------------------------------------------
Davis                     37,460,000  48,083,000     85,543,000   67,401,000
-------------           ----------------------------------------------------
Tarpon                     1,227,000           -      1,227,000   37,025,000
-------------           ----------------------------------------------------
Fleming                            -   4,921,000      4,921,000   18,354,000
-------------           ----------------------------------------------------
Stanley                            -     518,000        518,000    2,293,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                     51,411,000  68,297,000    119,708,000  127,580,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Economic Analysis

For purposes of evaluating the economic viability of the project, the Amended
ESI Technical Report used the standards of CIM and the policies of NI 43-101.
They provide that a Coal Reserve is the economically mineable portion of a
Measured or Indicated Coal Resource that has been demonstrated, after a thorough
analysis of mining, processing, economic and other relevant factors, to be
economically justified for coal extraction at the time of reporting.


In accordance with CIM and NI 43-101 policies, estimates of initial startup
capital requirements and sustaining capital costs were included in the Amended
ESI Technical Report for total mine life. Estimated capital costs are broken
down into "Initial Mine Setup Costs" ($1,200,000) and "Equipment Costs"
($11,000,000) which, in each case, are the cost of "facing up" and "acquiring
the equipment needed", respectively, to place each seam into production. 


For the purposes of the Amended ESI Technical Report: 

(a) Operating costs were segregated into "support costs", "labor costs" and
"supply costs" which are dependent on coal seam thickness. These costs range
from $64.25 per ton to $94.26 per ton;


(b) The net coal sales price used ranged from $133 to $135 per ton of clean coal
delivered to the wash plant which is based on a previous purchase order and
confirmation by pricing forecasts compiled by Deutsche Bank of eleven investment
institutions and the Goldman Sachs 2012 metallurgical coal price forecast,
Unlike the Original ESI Technical Report which held the coal price constant at
$130 per ton, the Amended ESI Technical Report involved a more comprehensive
pricing study and also took into account the trucking costs from various seams
to either of two separate washing facilities in the nearby area such that net
sales price achieved varies between $133 and $135 per ton depending on the tract
and which of those two nearest wash facilities that production was trucked to.
As a result of these factors, the before tax discounted NPV's arrived at in the
Amended ESI Technical Report increased slightly from those arrived at in the
Original ESI Technical Report. 


(c) The mine life was established by preparing a detailed mine plan for all of
the seams evaluated;


(d) The optimum mine plan yielded overall recoveries of 60% of the in-place
metallurgical Coal Reserves over the life of the mine; 


(e) The optimum mine plan involves a "room and pillar" scheme; 

(f) Retreat mining that would recover the balance of the metallurgical Coal
Reserves was not evaluated for purposes of this report; 


(g) The evaluation contained in the Original ESI Technical Report was completed
only on a "Before Federal and State Corporate Income Tax Basis". The Amended ESI
Technical Report also reports the "After Federal and State Corporate Tax"
results. Each report contained the same royalty burdens,, wheelage charges and
additional state and federal levies.


(h) Property acquisition costs are not included in this analysis.

Proposed Commencement and Mining Schedule

The projected mining schedule contained in the Original ESI Technical Report and
in the Amended ESI Technical Report are the same. Each projected mining to
commence in the Hagy Seam (Mill Creek Tract) with one continuous miner. Subject
to the availability of financing, the Amended ESI Technical Report assumed that
a second continuous miner will be added 4 months later. Production volumes in
the Amended ESI Technical Report were estimated to begin at 5,500 clean tons for
the first month of production increasing to 9,400 clean tons for the second
month and increasing to 16,934 clean tons for the remaining months and
annualized production was estimated at 203,212 clean tons per year per section
from this first seam. 


Mining of the Splashdam seam (Mill Creek Tract) is forecast to begin in January
2013 with the same ramp up schedule utilized as for the Hagy seam. Two
continuous miners are included on each of the Hagy and Splashdam seams per mine
producing coal with the Splashdam seam production at 163,868 clean tons per year
per section.


Production from the Lower Banner seam (Davis Tract) is forecast to begin in 2014
with a second continuous miner added in 2015. The production in the Lower Banner
seam is estimated at 214,594 clean tons per year per section.


Production from the Upper Banner seam (Davis Tract) is forecast to begin during
January 2014 and continue for 14 years. Production is estimated at 96,000 clean
tons per year with one conventional section of equipment.


Forecast production rates in the Original ESI Technical Report for each of the
first 7 years (in tons per year) from the Proven Reserves in the Hagy,
Splashdam, Lower Banner and Upper Banner seams on the Mill Creek Tract and the
Davis Tract is therefore as follows:




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year                                2012        2013        2014        2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross Production (tons)           48,766     636,424   1,014,990   1,259,348
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year                                    2016            2017            2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross Production (tons)            1,239,086         852,924         852,924
----------------------------------------------------------------------------



It should be noted that there can be no assurance that the production volumes or
operating cost projections contained in the Amended ESI Technical Report will be
met by Cobalt as many factors, many of which are beyond the control of Cobalt,
will affect Cobalt's ability to achieve them including, but not limited to, the
availability of financing to acquire the necessary equipment and the markets
generally with respect to prices received for metallurgical coal. As Cobalt has
not yet closed the KMH/C&B Acquisition the projected production schedule
contained in the Amended ESI Technical Report will be delayed.


Recommendations of the Amended ESI Technical Report

The Amended ESI Technical Report makes the following recommendations:

(a) That Cobalt undertakes a program of exploration and confirmation drilling on
each of the tracts combined with surface outcrop sampling and measuring. The
collection of this additional data will support improved resources mapping
confidence and will in turn yield additional quantities of Measured and
Indicated Coal Resources by transitioning the large quantity of Inferred
Resources to one of those more confident Measured or Indicated categories; 


(b) That Cobalt expands the scope of the report to economically evaluate many of
the other seams on the tracts to be acquired. Many of the seams situated on the
tracts have been economically mined in the past on lands in the immediate
vicinity of, and surrounding, the tracts to be acquired. In the opinion of the
author of the Amended ESI Technical Report, significant additional volumes of
Proven and Probable Coal Reserves would be confirmed by identifying a preferred
mining method for, and performing an economic analysis on, many of those seams;
and 


(c) The Amended ESI Technical Report emphasizes the need for Cobalt to
investigate the construction of, or acquisition of, a suitable wash plant
insofar as prices realized for production can be significantly increased
thereby.


About Cobalt

Cobalt is a publicly traded coal exploration and production company
headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with a regional office in Welch, West
Virginia USA. Cobalt was created to capitalize on the growth opportunities that
exist in the metallurgical coal mining industry. 


READER ADVISORY

Statements in this News Release may constitute "forward-looking" statements and
"forward-looking" information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") as
defined in applicable securities laws, which involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance
or achievements of the Corporation, or industry results, to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: 




--  future extraction and exploitation of mineral deposits; 
--  the quality of mineral deposits; 
--  capital expenditure requirements; 
--  expectations regarding prices and costs; 
--  development of mineral resources and mineral extraction processes; 
--  the Corporation spending the funds available to it as stated in this
    News Release; 
--  expectations regarding the Corporation's ability to subsequently raise
    capital; 
--   expenditures to be made by the Corporation to meet certain work
    commitments; 
--  work plans to be conducted by the Corporation; and 
--  reclamation and rehabilitation obligations and liabilities. 



In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
such words as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe",
"plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "should", "provide" and other similar
terminology. These statements reflect the Corporation's current expectations
regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date
of this News Release. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future
performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those
anticipated in such forward-looking statements. 


Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and
assumptions, including, that: 




--  the Corporation executes its project development plans in a manner
    consistent with its budgets and planning; 
--  studies to support the Corporation's current development plans; and 
--  the Corporation obtains additional financing in the future. 



Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should
not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not
necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be
achieved. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this News Release
are based upon what management of the Corporation believes are reasonable
assumptions, the Corporation cannot assure investors that actual results will be
consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are made as of the date of this News Release and are expressly
qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable
securities laws, the Corporation assumes no obligation to update or revise them
to reflect new events or circumstances.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: 
Cobalt Coal Ltd.
Al Kroontje
Director
[phone]
[e-mail]


Cobalt Coal Ltd.
Robert Gillies
CFO
[phone]
[e-mail]


Cobalt Coal Ltd.
Mike Crowder
President & CEO
[phone]
[e-mail]