EXTENSION OF EXPLORATION AND MINING AREA AT SEBUKU

Area is 5,121 hectares adjacent to the Western Leases

Expected to confirm extensions of existing Sebuku coal seams

Singapore – 9 December 2008

pleased to announce that it has received approval from Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and

Mines for a new area totalling 5,121 hectares for exploration and mining at Sebuku Island.

The new area lies immediately to the north of Straits Asia’s Western Leases, just offshore

Sebuku Island and also adjoins the onland Northern Leases. In the map below, the

concessions owned at Sebuku are edged in white and the new area is shown lined in red.

Straits Asia will surrender from the existing concession area 3,233 hectares of land that is no

longer considered prospective for mining; that area is shown edged in yellow in the map below.

The Western Leases and the Northern Leases have already

disclosed 296 million tonnes and 34 million tonnes

respectively of inferred and indicated resources. Straits

Asia expects that it will now be able to demonstrate that the

coal seams in the Western and Northern Leases extend

north and west into the new area.

Drilling of this new area will commence in 2009 and Straits

Asia will add plans for the eventual mining of the area to the

technical feasibility studies and plans that have already

begun for mining in the Western Leases.

The area will be held under Straits Asia group’s coal

contract of work, the terms of which are otherwise

unchanged by the new area extension.

Richard Ong, CEO, said “Strategically this is an important addition to the overall planning of

Sebuku and, in my opinion, will add major long-term value to Straits Asia. I will be looking