Mr. Stephan Theron reports

FORBES & MANHATTAN COAL ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD COMPOSITION

Forbes and Manhattan Coal Corp. has implemented an amicable reconstitution of its board of directors following discussions between the company and Resource Capital Fund V LP (RCF), one of Forbes Coal's major shareholders.

As a result of these discussions, Forbes Coal's board has been reconstituted, as follows: Stephan Theron, Stan Bharti, Bernard Wilson, Ryan Bennett, Mike Price, John Dreyer and Craig Wiggill.

Mr. Theron, president and chief executive officer of the company, said: "The new board is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for Forbes Coal, and the company remains focused on executing its strategy of being a leading emerging coal producer in southern Africa. The company remains focused on creating shareholder value, and executing on its operating and acquisition plans."

As part of the board reconstitution, David Stein, David Gower and Grant Davey have resigned their board positions effective today. Mr. Theron said, "On behalf of Forbes Coal and all its shareholders, the new board wishes to thank Mr. Stein, Mr. Gower and Mr. Davey for their service to the company and its shareholders."

Biographies

Mr. Theron (CEO, executive director)

Mr. Theron has over 13 years of extensive financial management, project finance and equity analysis experience in the mining, energy and infrastructure sectors. Prior to joining Forbes Coal in November, 2009, Mr. Theron was sector head, materials and energy, at an independent investment research firm with a focus on emerging markets from September, 2007, to October, 2009. He also worked on various capital projects in southern Africa for AMEC PLC from January, 2002, to March, 2004, and AMEC PLC from June, 2004, to September, 2007, in North America and Europe. Mr. Theron is a certified general accountant and has a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Johannesburg.

Mr. Bharti (non-executive director)

Mr. Bharti has over 25 years of experience in operations, public markets and finance. Over the last 10 years Mr. Bharti has been involved in acquiring, restructuring and financing various mineral companies. He is a professional mining engineer and holds a master of engineering degree from Moscow, Russia, and University of London, England. From 2002 to April, 2006, Mr. Bharti was a director and past president of Desert Sun Mining Corp. (which was acquired by Yamana Gold Inc. in 2006). Mr. Bharti is currently the president of Forbes and Manhattan Inc. In addition, Mr. Bharti is a director of several public and private companies.

Mr. Bennett (non-executive director)

Mr. Bennett is a senior partner with Resource Capital Funds, a private equity group of funds that invests in development- and growth-stage mining companies. From 1992 to 1998, Mr. Bennett held various positions within NM Rothschild & Sons in Denver and Rothschild Australia Ltd. in Sydney, where he was principally responsible for the technical analysis of mining projects seeking debt finance. Prior to joining Rothschild, he worked as a geologist for the United States Bureau of Mines and a private exploration company focused on Alaska, as well as a mining engineering consultant for Caterpillar. Mr. Bennett has a master of science degree in mining engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and a bachelor of science degree in geological engineering and mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mr. Dreyer (non-executive director)

Mr. Dreyer is a qualified South African lawyer, previously managing director of Shell South Africa, CEO of Tavistock Coal and executive director of Anglo American Platinum. He served as chairman of Australian Securities Exchange-listed Firestone Energy until 2011. Mr. Dreyer currently serves on the board of ASX-listed Cobar Consolidated Resources, where he also serves on the audit committee.

Mr. Wiggill (non-executive director)

Mr. Wiggill has held management, executive and directorship positions on several international mining and marketing companies in the coal sector and, as CEO of Coal Americas at Anglo American PLC, was responsible for all of that company's coal activities in North America and South America. He was previously managing director of Anglo Coal Marketing Ltd. from 2000 to 2004 and is an engineer by profession (BSc engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, 1984).

Mr. Wilson (non-executive director)

Mr. Wilson is a senior financial professional with a wide array of working relationships with business executives in Canada, the United States and internationally. Mr. Wilson serves as an adviser in corporate finance and investment banking, and has extensive experience in major financial restructurings, international trade and commerce issues. Some of Mr. Wilson's more notable leadership roles include serving as the chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the largest Canadian business organization with 175,000 members, chairman of the Canadian Council for International Business, chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the Canada/U.S. Trade Committee and chairman founders board of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Mr. Price (non-executive director)

Mr. Price has more than 35 years experience in mining and mining finance. He has BSc and Phd qualifications in mining engineering from University College Cardiff, United Kingdom, and a mine manager certificate of competency (coal mines) in South Africa. He is a European engineer (FEANI) and chartered mining engineer (CEng). After working for BP Coal, BP Minerals and BP Exploration in various mine management and business development roles, Mr. Price moved into mining finance with NM Rothschild & Sons, Societe Generale and Barclays Capital where he structured, arranged and advised on the financing of mining projects worldwide. Mr. Price is now a non-executive director of several mining companies, and he is an independent adviser on mining finance as well as the London Representative of Resource Capital Funds.

Johan Odendaal, BSc (geology), BSc (honours) (MinEcon), MSc (MinEng), a director of Minxcon and an independent qualified person, as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this release.

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