Churchill Mining Plc has announced that its global resource at the East Kutai Coal Project (EKCP) has more than doubled to 3.18 bt of thermal coal.
Included in this global resource is the previously reported JORC compliant resource of 1.4 bt. The balance is expected to be upgraded into JORC compliant categories within a month, once final digital survey data has been processed.
Churchill owns 75% of EKCP, which is one of the largest, development stage coal resources in Indonesia. Churchill Mining also confirms it has recently obtained its approvals and mining licenses for the EKCP from the Indonesian Government.
This new global resource figure has exceeded the company’s initial 500 mt target by more than 600%. Coal quality in the latest round of drilling is similar to previous drill samples with the coal defined as medium calorific, with low sulphur and low ash content.
Churchill believes, given the potential world-class size of the EKCP resource, that the project now has the scale to be of strategic value to major Asian power groups – particularly those in Indonesia, India and China.
Due to the large size of the deposit, Churchill has focused its mine and infrastructure planning to create a bulk mining operation producing up to 20 mtpa of coal.
The Company has also set a new JORC reserve target of 500 mt to support this production level; the original target was 150 mt.
To date the Company has completed many of the preliminary technical and Indonesian statutory procedural requirements to ensure mining can go ahead. This technical build-up will continue for the balance of 2009 so that the EKCP is ready for project development financing and/or joint venture partnership next year.
