Hunnu Coal aims for 250-500Mt exploration target at Unst Khudag Mine
Hunnu Coal has commenced an exploration and development drilling
programme at the 60% owned Unst Khudag Coal Mine and surrounding
exploration licenses, located in Dundgobi Province of Mongolia
, aiming
to deliver high quality premium thermal coal to both domestic and
Chinese off-take customers.
The Unst Khudag Coal Mine is
strategically located 200km from an operational multi party coal loading
facility on a major rail line and consists of two Exploration Licenses
and one Mining License covering over 59,000 hectares of area.
The
project has an approved Mining Plan and Feasibility Study for the
mining of 98.7Mt of coal and is targeting first production in the latter
half of 2010. Off-take agreements are currently being negotiated with
Mongolian and Chinese thermal coal users.
The company has an
exploration target of 250Mt to 500Mt. There has been a past trial
production of approximately 30,000t for bulk test work with potential
off-take partners and to local customers.
There is a single coal
seam with average thickness of 20 metres dipping at 0 to 5 degrees and
coal is at less than 4 metres from the surface.
There is a low
strip ratio mine start up at less than 1:1. Coal analysis reveals a high
quality thermal coal with quality parameters in average Qdaf = 6,460
kCal/kg, Ash = 13.9% and Moisture content = 23.9%.
The mining license area covers approximately 1,600 hectares of area,
on which the relevant government authority has approved the mining of
98.7Mt of coal.
George Tumur, managing director, said the current
exploration drilling programme is intended to confirm the current
exploration target within the mining license area and also identify the
extent of the coal seam into the adjacent licensed exploration area.
A
total of 33 drill holes are expected to be completed for approximately
5,000 metres. The drilling programme will also include further coal
quality test work.
Three drilling rigs are currently on site and
are drilling a combination of both open hole and diamond core to an
average depth of 150m.
The company is finalising a detailed
operational review of the Unst Khudag Coal Mine with particular
attention to quantifying coal tonnages and coal quality on the Mining
License and surrounding Exploration Licenses.
Hunnu is reviewing
existing coal test work and bulk sampling results along with reviewing
the current mine plan and feasibility study and establishing off-take
contracts.
It is examining near term staffing requirements,
verifying near term capital requirements, as well as examining
logistical requirements.
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