Cockatoo Coal boosts JORC coal resources by 148% at Baralaba Mine project

Cockatoo Coal (ASX: COK) has increased the total of Measured and Indicated JORC Resources in the open cut production areas of the Baralaba Mine project by 148% to 13.1 million tonnes.

The Resource upgrade advances the expansion development plans of the Baralaba Mine project and exploration potential remains open in most directions. The newly defined Resources are expected to directly contribute to additional marketable Reserves following mine planning evaluation of the results.

The Baralaba mine project is within the company's Bowen Basin projects. Today's upgrade increases all classifications of JORC compliant Resources in the Bowen projects by 4% to 164.9 million tonnes.
The continuation of the coal quality coring program, laboratory analysis and interpretation of existing data has led to refinement in the geological models, and hence the upgrade.

The company said the upper coal seams of the Baralaba Coal Measures, present in the central areas of the Baralaba Mine project, have returned encouraging preliminary raw coal quality results with ash and energy values consistent with other seams mined in the current operation.

Exploration drilling activities are back to full production with four rigs operational.

A total of five large diameter (200mm) cored holes have been drilled for washability, and 13 slim diameter (100mm) cored holed have been drilled for raw coal quality since the last update.

In the Baralaba North project a total of 299 holes for 53,876 metres have been drilled, including 11 part-cored holes for 1,064 metres since the last update.

A total of 609 holes for 73,316 metres have been drilled in the Baralaba Mine project, including 11 part cored holes for 891 metres since the last update.

Recent drilling in the Baralaba Mine and Baralaba North projects has cumulative down hole coal intercepts of up to 9.4 metres with an average thickness of 4.2 metres.

Production at the Baralaba mine has demonstrated that the seams of the Rangal Coal Measures in this area have PCI and thermal coal properties. The seams mined at the Baralaba mine have been intersected in the Wonbindi, Baralaba South and Baralaba North target areas.

The company envisages future production from the Baralaba Mine, Baralaba North and Wonbindi project areas, subject to rail and port upgrades, as a key step in the realisation of the Company’s strategic goals.

Meanwhile, within the Queensland Surat Basin projects drilling in ongoing with a total of 705 holes for 83,579 metres drilled.

In the Collingwood project, a seam unidentified in historic drilling typically 6 to 7 metres in thickness and close to surface, has been intersected. The seam, which has vertical strip ratios of less than 2:1, has been cored and sampled for coal quality analysis.

A total of 55 holes for 3,386 metres have been now been drilled by the company at the Collingwood project where recent drilling has had cumulative down hole coal intercepts of up to 8.7 metres with an average thickness of 4.4 metres.

In the Taroom project, the company has now drilled 23 holes for 2,312 metres. Recent drilling has cumulative down hole coal intercepts of up to 14.7 metres with an average thickness of 10.0 metres.

Expansion of the Tin Hut Creek deposit to the north and south continues, with 7 holes for 736 metres drilled since the last update with cumulative down hole coal intercepts of up to 12.1 metres with an average thickness of 9.1 metres.

In the Krugers project, 20 holes for 2,412 metres have been drilled since the last activities. Recent drilling has cumulative down hole coal intercepts of up to 11.9 metres with an average thickness of 8.4 metres.

The drilling at the Collingwood, Taroom, Tin Hut Creek and Krugers projects has delivered positive results that will form part of the development program of the company’s Surat Basin assets.

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/18206/cockatoo-coal-boosts-jorc-coal-resources-by-148-at-baralaba-mine-project-18206.html