Work on Site to Commence and Placing

23/03/2009
                                                                        GB00B23JN426/GBP/PLUS-exn

                                       Oracle Coalfields PLC

                                     Work on Site to Commence

                                              Placing

The Board of Oracle Coalfields PLC (PLUS: ORCP) ("Oracle" or "the Company"), the UK developer of a
1.4  billion tonne coal deposit in southern Pakistan, announces that following a Placing, work  on
the Bankable Feasibility Study for the Company's Thar coalfield in the eastern Sindh province will
commence  in  April  2009.   A  number of studies will be carried  out  by  leading  international
consultancies.

The  Company  has  placed  5,000,000 new ordinary shares ("Ordinary Shares")  of  0.1p  each  (the
"Placing Shares") at a price of 3p per share (the "Placing") with certain investors.

The  Placing  will raise gross proceeds of £150,000 to provide working capital for  the  business.
Application will be made to PLUS Markets for the new Ordinary Shares, which will rank  pari  passu
with  the  existing issued Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to trading on PLUS and it  is  expected
that the Placing Shares will be admitted on 6th April 2009.

Following the completion of the placing there will be 119,046,334 ordinary shares in issue

Shahrukh Khan, Chairman commented:

"The  monies  raised  allow  us to instruct our consultants to commence the  Bankable  Feasibility
Study,  including the environmental impact study".

"Our  licence  in  the  Thar coalfield has a very large resource, 1.4 billion  tonnes,  that  will
provide sufficient coal for power generation in Pakistan, in a country short of electrical  power.
It  is  national policy to increase the percentage of electricity supplied from coal  fired  power
stations  and  we are grateful for the support we have received from the Sindh Government  in  our
venture to become a significant coal producing operation."

The Directors of the issuer accept responsibility for this announcement.

ENQUIRIES:

Oracle Coalfields PLC
Shahrukh Khan, Chairman
Telephone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

St Helen's Capital plc
Barry Hocken
Telephone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Lothbury Financial
Michael Padley
Telephone: [phone]
[e-mail]

WEBSITE:

www.oraclecoalfields.com

About Oracle:

Oracle  Coalfields plc is a London-based resource exploration and development company with  an  80
per  cent   owned  subsidiary (Sindh Carbon Energy Limited) operating in  Pakistan.  The Company's
shares are quoted on the PLUS markets (symbol: ORCP). The Company's flagship project is the  Block
VI  coal  project which is located on the Thar coalfield in the eastern Sindh province,  Pakistan.
Block VI is host to a JORC compliant resource of 1.4 billion tonnes and 371 million tonnes in  the
proven category.

The  Company also owns the Indus East project in Pakistan. A pre-feasibility study carried out  by
Dargo  associates confirmed an inferred resource for the area (in line with the JORC Code) to  365
million  tonnes, of which the boreholes KHW-1 and KHW-2 give an indicated resource of c.24 million
tonnes.

Oracle Coalfields plc