Metrocoal Confirms Underground Coal Mining Resource In Bundi Project Area

MetroCoal has confirmed an initial inferred resource of 58Mt in its Bundi Project area, as a result of drill data recently released by Queensland Mines and Energy together with data obtained through data swaps with other companies and data from its earlier drilling program.

The Bundi Project area, within EPC 1164 Wandoan West, in the Surat Basin is down dip of Northern Energy’s Elimatta and Xstrata’s Wandoan mining project areas and covers an area of some 240sqkm.

The 58Mt inferred resource is contained within an area of approximately 18sqkm and is MetroCoal’s maiden underground coal mining resource. The total exploration target for the Bundi Project Area is between 240Mt and 335Mt.

The resource was identified while updating the geological model ahead of the planned exploration program. The data density has proved to be sufficient for estimation of an Inferred Resource compliant with the JORC Code.

The primary target is an underground mining resource in the Macalister Upper Seam of the Juandah Coal Measures within the Bundi Project Area. The inferred resource estimate is based on a working section used comprising the MU30, MU40 and MU50 plies. The Macalister Lower Seam and other coal seams and splits have been excluded from the resource estimate.

The company said that these plies have been selected as they are continuous and correlatable across the resource area and provide a sound basis for an underground mining resource. Initial raw coal quality data suggests that the resource will be suited to the production of a thermal coal product. Average thickness of the working section is 2.2m at a depth between 106m and 186m.

The planned exploration program and future modelling is expected to increase the resource by extending the resource area, potentially including additional plies of the Macalister Upper and where possible including the Macalister Middle and Macalister Lower seams.

Mike O’Brien, CEO of MetroCoal, said: “Establishing a resource at Bundi is the first step towards building an extensive mining resource portfolio in addition to the UCG resource established in the Juandah Project area last year.

“We expect the Bundi resource to expand considerably when additional borehole information becomes available from our exploration program. We will also be drilling near Miles in our Columboola EPC 1165 where we have an exploration target of between 830Mt and 1,165Mt.”