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Quest Minerals & Mining Announces Financial Restructuring Initiative

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 May 2006, 03:10 CDT

Quest Minerals & Mining Corp. (OTCBB: QMMG), a Kentucky based operator of energy and mineral related properties, today announced an ongoing initiative designed to resolve its debt and improve its financial liquidity. The Company intends to regain its financial health by restructuring its highly leveraged balance sheet.

The Company said that it proposes to restructure the privately held debt of Quest Minerals & Mining Corp., which is a parent holding company without business operations of its own, and the privately held debt of Gwenco, Inc., the Company's operating subsidiary. The Company emphasized that this intended financial restructuring is being designed to allow the Company to resume operations at the Pond Creek mine as Slater's Branch as well as pursue other energy related opportunities.

Eugene Chiaramonte, Jr., Vice President of Quest, said, "This restructuring initiative is the right next step to ensure the long-term success of our Company. We have already restructured a portion of our parent company debt and are working on restructuring the balance of our debt. We believe that a restructured balance sheet and an infusion of short-term working capital will allow us to obtain all required regulatory approvals and recommence mining operations at the Pond Creek mine at Slater's Branch. We also believe that it would allow us to pursue other energy related opportunities to enhance stockholder value. We estimate that we have total recoverable coal reserves of approximately nine million tons, consisting of both proven and probable reserves, and that a restructuring would allow us to recommence mining operations to service our debt obligations and to enhance our results of operations."

Chiaramonte continued, "However, due to our lack of liquidity, a shortage of working capital, undisclosed liabilities of certain companies that we acquired, and an apparent embezzlement by some of our former employees and their colleagues, the Company finds itself in a position where the increasingly severe tightening over the past several months of the bank credit and other capital markets previously accessed by Quest has made them unavailable to refinance the company's near term maturities. At this point and under these circumstances, we believe that the restructuring initiative announced today is in the Company's best interests, will provide a level of debt that our operations can be expected to support, and enhance the prospects of a stronger Quest tomorrow."

About Quest Minerals & Mining

Quest Minerals & Mining Corp., or Quest, acquires and operates energy and mineral related properties in the southeastern part of the United States. Quest focuses its efforts on properties that produce quality compliance blend coal. For more information on Quest Minerals & Mining Corp., please visit our website at www.questminerals.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words, such as Quest Minerals and Mining "expects,""should,""believes,""anticipates" or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe Quest Minerals and Mining's future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including the financial performance of Quest Minerals and Mining, as appropriate, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated, including, but not limited to, lack of revenue producing operations, lack of working capital, debt obligations, judgments and lien claims against Quest and certain of its assets, difficulties in refinancing short term debt, difficulties in accelerating sales growth, difficulties identifying and acquiring complementary businesses, restrictive covenants in its existing credit facilities, fluctuations in coal, oil & gas, and other energy prices, general economic conditions in markets in which Quest does business, extensive environmental and workplace regulation by federal and state agencies, and other general risks related to its common stock, and other uncertainties and business issues that are detailed in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are only made as of the date of this press release and Quest Minerals and Mining does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Source: Business Wire

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