John Howard’s former chief of staff, Arthur Sinodinos , has stepped onto the board of Sydney-based private coal company Blackwood Coal as a non-executive chairman before a proposed public offering this quarter.

Blackwood, 38 per cent-owned by listed Argonaut Resources on an undiluted basis, is looking to raise up to $12 million after it acquired a portfolio of coal exploration permits in the Bowen, Surat/Moreton and Galilee coal basins in Queensland.