Eagle Downs Coal Project

The Eagle Downs Coal Project is located some 7 kilometres south of the Isaac Plains Coal Project and is immediately adjacent to BMA’s Peak Downs Coal Mine in the Bowen Basin region of Queensland.

Coal resources have been delineated within the Q seam, Harrow Creek Upper (HCU) seam, Harrow Creek Lower (HCL) seam and Dysart (DY) seam of the Permian Moranbah Coal Measures. The exploration programmes undertaken on the Eagle Downs Coal Project to date have comprised of several phases:

• Stage 1 – preliminary drilling and coal quality testing activities in order to provide data for an initial resource estimate;
  
• Stage 2 – follow-up exploration and coal quality assessment, including the 2-D seismic testing of structures, to provide data for the purposes of further resource definition and the determination of potential coal product qualities; and
  
• Stage 3/4 – further evaluation of coal quality, gas, structure and geotechnical data to enable the analysis of various matters such as geochemical properties, spontaneous combustion, in-situ stress and permeability characteristics.

JB Mining Services Pty Ltd was commissioned to complete an updated JORC resource statement for the northern zone of the project based on data obtained from the Stage 1 and 2 exploration programmes. Further coal quality data was pending at year end, as part of the Stage 3/4 programme and will be incorporated into subsequent resource updates. The southern resource area is not included in the current project evaluation work and remains prospective for future exploration programmes.

Eagle Downs Coal Project - JORC Coal Resources (Mt)

Eagle Downs Coal Project - JORC

Eagle Downs Coal Project - Clean Coal Composite Whole Seam Weighted Average Qualities (Indicated Area)

The information on this website that relates to the Eagle Downs Resource Statement has been based on information compiled by Mr Graeme Hewitt and Mr Mal Blaik who are members of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.  Mr Hewitt is a qualified Geologist (BSc (Hons) University of NSW, MBA (University of Queensland)) and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and as such qualifies as a Competent Person under the JORC Code.  Mr Hewitt holds shares in Aquila Resources Ltd.  Mr Blaik is a Principal Consultant of JB Mining Services Pty Ltd.  Mr Blaik is a qualified geologist (BSc App Geol (Hons) University of Queensland, 1979) and is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and as such qualifies as a Competent Person under the JORC Code.  Mr Hewitt and Mr Blaik consent to the inclusion on this website the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears..

Following these exploration results in the northern resource area, a Mining Lease application was lodged in November 2007 with the Queensland Department of Mines and Energy. As part of this process, the draft terms of reference for the Environmental Impact Statement have been placed on public display and are being refined in anticipation of commencing an environmental assessment on the project.

A significant focus over the last twelve months has been the completion of the Eagle Downs Pre-Feasibility Study which has built on the outcomes of the 2007 Conceptual Mining Study conducted by IMC Mining Solutions.

The four mining configurations evaluated by the Pre-Feasibility Study are summarised as follows:

Eagle Downs Coal Project - Mining Scenario

Capital and operating cost estimates were evaluated for each of these scenarios, with Case 2 above identified as an attractive first stage of development, enabling the earlier delivery of Eagle Downs Coal Project hard coking coal into the export market and providing significant cashflow to fund the installation of a second longwall in order to increase production to 7Mtpa in line with the projected expansion of port capacity.

Although this scenario excludes the Q seam, the potential for the Q seam to provide a premium hard coking coal will necessitate further study work aimed at achieving incremental or supplementary production volumes with which to further enhance the overall project economics.

On the basis of the encouraging outcomes from the Pre-Feasibility Study, additional resource evaluation, infrastructure and mine design studies have been commenced with the objective of achieving first coal sales from the Eagle Downs Coal Project in 2012.