Location: 10km south-east of BlackWater
Area: 120km2
JORC Inferred Resource; 95Mt high quality coking coal
Exploration Target1: 205 – 345Mt covering 26% of the EPC
EPC: 1114
Ownership: 100% Stanmore Coal
High quality underground coking coal deposit identified
The Belview Project is located approximately four kilometres east of the historic Leichhardt mine where the 6.0 -6.5metre thick Gemini seam of prime coking coal was mined underground by BHP in the 1960s to 1980s. The depth of workings at Leichhardt ranged from 350-410metres.
Stanmore Coal has defined an initial JORC Inferred Resource of 95Mt in the Gemini seam of the Rangal Coal Measures. The key seams that have been intersected by Stanmore Coal in the Belview lease are the Aries, Gemini, Orion and Pisces seams. The Gemini seam represents the coalescence of the adjacent Castor and Pollux seams which drilling has confirmed to average 5-6 metres in thickness.
Six holes were drilled in 2011 and a further exploration program is planned for 2012 to extend the Inferred Resource and address core recovery issues encountered in a number of the drill holes. To date the Inferred Resource has been calculated from the Gemini seam only, based on testing of the central three holes of the initial program completed in the western margin of the tenement. An increase to the initial JORC Inferred Resource is anticipated on completion of further drilling.
Gemini Seam Coal Quality
Coal quality test work from the three holes tested to date has determined that the Gemini Seam is capable of producing a dual product comprising a high quality hard coking and a low ash, high energy thermal coal.
Raw crucible swell numbers typically range from 1.5 to 9 and average 3.8. Average raw ash of 13.4% and raw energy of 7,260 kcal / kg (air dried) was achieved. Coal rank and average coal quality appears at this stage to remain fairly consistent with increases in depth.
Initial clean coal laboratory test results for the central three holes demonstrate a substantial improvement in coking properties from washing with a combined coking and thermal product yield5 of 90%.
Figure 2: Gemini Seam Clean Coal Results (average across full 6m seam)
Coking properties increase towards the base of the coal seam. Should the deposit be selectively mined for the lower 2.5m of the seam an enhanced coking coal is achieved as shown below.
The clean coal composites above from the first three holes tested demonstrate that the Belview coal has attractive coking coal characteristics and compares well to other nearby hard coking coal mines in the Bowen Basin.
Further coking tests are being conducted including petrographic analysis to confirm the coal rank and other coking properties.
Aries Seam Coal Quality
Initial clean coal composite results from the first of the Aries seam samples similarly demonstrate very attractive coking coal qualities and the potential to optimise yield by the production of a secondary high energy thermal product.
Figure 4: Aries Seam Washability Results
The company is planning to commission a scoping study to identify the potential project economics at Belview using modern underground mining methods.