Bowen Coking Coal strikes 44 million tonnes at Hillalong South
A Bowen Basin miner has confirmed a significant coal estimate of 44 million tonnes for its coking coal project - the equivalent of almost 3700 bridges the size of Brisbane’s Story Bridge.
Mackay
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A Bowen Basin miner has confirmed a significant coal estimate of 44 million tonnes for the Hillalong South Coking Coal Project.
In what the Queensland Resources Council has described on Linked In as metallurgical coal weighing almost 3700 bridges the size of Brisbane’s Story Bridge, Bowen Coking Coal could begin selling the highly-sought material in early 2022.
The maiden resource estimate includes 26 million tonnes indicated and 18 million tonnes inferred but further explorative drilling is planned.
In an ASX announcement, Bowen Coking Coal said this new coal discovery brought the total Hillalong resource to 87 million tonnes across the northern and southern areas.
BCC owns 90 per cent of the Hillalong Project’s southern section while Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation owns the remaining 10 per cent.
Bowen Coking Coal CEO Gerhard Redelinghuys said the exploration program at Hillalong demonstrated the potential to wash a low ash primary coking coal with secondary PCI coal for a combined high-end yield.
“The maiden resource estimate for Hillalong South follows our recent exploration program which demonstrated seam continuance and the exceptional intersection of a 9m thick coalesced Elphinstone and Hynds seams from 32m deep in hole HIL 054,” he said.
“Given its close proximity to the Burton Coal Handling and Preparation Plant and infrastructure, Hillalong South could become a critical building block in the company’s development strategy.”
Bowen Coking Coal non-executive director and M Resources president Matt Latimore said the potential to produce high-quality coking coal was lucrative.
“(It’s) very positive given continued increases in recent coking coal prices, with Platts Hard Coking Coal Index rising from US$109 per tonne on May 10, 2021 to US$248 per tonne on August 27, 2021.”
The Hillalong project is near Glencore’s Hail Creek Mine — about 105km southwest of Mackay and 10km by road southeast of Glenden.
One of the company’s key objectives has been to find a seam continuance along the strike length of Hillalong South.
A 2019 exploration program encountered main target seams — Elphinstone and Hynds Upper — between 116m and 167m deep with an average thickness of 5.6m for the Elphinstone seam
and 2.5m for the Hynds Upper seam.
But the company believes it did not find intersecting coal in the southern section after drilling into a fault.
Another hole drilled close to this location more recently has encountered both the target seams at a combined thickness of more than 7m.
“(This) provides a good indication of the seam continuance over the southern area of the Hillalong Project to support this new maiden resource result,” the ASX announcement reads.
“The assessment of reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction has been based on a likely scenario of open cut strip mining transitioning to underground mining over time.
“There appears to be adequate room for all required spoil dumps and on-site infrastructure.
“The same coal seams have been exploited in numerous surrounding mines and their quality characteristics are very well understood.”
BCC executive chairman Nick Jorss, who turned a $1 investment in a struggling coal mine into a billion-dollar asset, has been hitting the headlines for taking a bet on the future of the sector amid soaring demand from Asia.
While head of Stanmore Coal, he paid a dollar for the mothballed Isaac Plains coal mine in 2015 before transforming it into an operation employing hundreds of workers.
Last month, Mr Jorss announced BCC would acquire New Hope Corporation’s 90 per cent interest in the Lenton Joint Venture, the owner of two coal mines in the northern Bowen Basin for $20 million.
The acquisition will allow three mines to share transport and other infrastructure.
Mr Jorss and Mr Latimore will both speak at a November conference that will highlight thousands of jobs and more than $3 billion of procurement opportunities throughout Central Queensland.
In a first for the industry, the Connecting Coal Conference Queensland will present construction and development plans from decision makers at seven major metallurgical and torbanite projects based in the Bowen Basin.
Connecting Industry managing director Kieran Moran said the online event was designed to help the resource, construction, engineering, manufacturing, logistics and services sector on the latest project and procurement information.
“The Connecting Coal Conference Queensland aims to stimulate procurement, business development, and solution-based opportunities by presenting latest supply chain opportunities,” he said.
“The strategic focus of the conference is to highlight metallurgical and torbanite coal mining projects and their potential procurement opportunities over the next three years to assist industry and the supply chain in their planning for future work opportunities.”
The projects being presented at the Connecting Coal Conference Queensland include:
• Broadmeadow East Mine
• Cook Colliery Mine
• Mavis and Millennium Downs Metallurgical Coal Mine restart
• Issac River Coking Coal Project
• Gregory Crinum Underground Mine
• Alph Torbanite Project
The Connecting Coal Conference Queensland is being held on Thursday, November 11 from 8.30am (AEST).
For more information go to www.connectingindustry.com.au/events/
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