JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed coal explorer Bathurst Resources has concluded negotiations with land and permit holders on land adjoining the Mill Creek and Gibraltar projects, in the US, allowing the projects to be mined contiguously, it said on Monday.

The Mill Creek and Gibraltar projects, in Kentucky, were only a few miles apart, but the access to each project was quite separate, requiring each to be stand alone. “Acquiring the land between the projects will allow significant savings in access, development, and infrastructure costs,” Bathurst said in a statement.

The acquisition of the lease increased the exploration potential with up to 500 000 t of coal potential in the same seams being mined at Mill Creek. It also allowed for improved recovery at Gibraltar.

“Much of the property boundary between the two leases was in coal, and most this coal would not have been mineable without combining the two properties.”

Bathurst noted that the acquisition a further addition to its existing portfolio of coal assets.

“During the existing poor coal market, Mill Creek is the only one of Bathurst’s operations which is producing with target production of between 20 000 t and 30 000 t a month. This acquisition substantially improves the Mill Creek production profile,” the company stated.

The mining permit for Mill Creek was approved in January, and the company reported that it was an opencut project with five seams, with three being economic to currently mine. Production levels of 30 000 t a month of thermal has now been achieved from open cutting, with the potential to add another 5 000 t a month from auger mining.

The Gibraltar operation was similar to Mill Creek, except that the overburden was more weathered material, requiring less drilling and blasting, which should reduce the cost of mining. Bathurst stated that the permit to open a strip mine at Gibraltar was still being processed.

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