Name of the Project
Elan hard coking coal (HCC) project.

Location
The project is located in southern Alberta, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Atrum Coal.

Project Description
A scoping study has demonstrated that the development and openpit mining of the low-strip Isolation South and Elan South deposits under two cases yields a technically robust and highly economic world-class operation.

Case 1 represents a nameplate mining and processing capacity of ten-million tonnes a year of run-of-mine (RoM) for six-million tonnes a year of HCC.

Case 2 represents the equivalent capacity of 7.5-million tonnes a year of RoM for 4.5-million tonnes a year of HCC. All coal extraction will be through openpit methods and based on mining a single large pit at Isolation South and three discrete pits at Elan South (South East Corner, Oil Pad and Fish Hook).

The scoping study mine schedule supports total RoM coal production of about 126-million tons at a globally low life-of-mine (LoM) average stripping ratio of about 4.3 bank cubic metres a tonne.

Conventional coal processing will be undertaken through a coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP), to be located near Isolation South. Mined coal volumes from Elan South will be trucked to the plant by haul road.

Total product coal is estimated at 76-million tonnes. This is delivered over an initial operating life of 15 years for six-million tonnes a year of HCC or 19 years for 4.5-million tonnes a year of HCC.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Case 1 has a pretax ungeared net present value (NPV), at a 9% discount rate, of $1.18-billion and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 29%, with a payback of four years.

Case 2 has a pretax ungeared NPV, at a 9% discount rate, of $1.07-billion and an IRR of 30%, with a payback of 3.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
Case 1 preproduction capital expenditure is estimated at $683-million. Case 2 preproduction capital expenditure is estimated at $587-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The project is now poised to start prefeasibility work; however, Atrum has said that the Covid-19 pandemic means that the full start of these activities will be delayed.

The first rotary air blast drill hole of the 2020 programme started at Isolation South in May 2020.

The planned programme is a comprehensive package of field work, which includes all necessary components required to underpin the Elan project prefeasibility study.

Major field activities under way or set to start in the short term include a 147-hole drilling programme, further detailed coal quality and washability testing, geotechnical testing, hydrogeology and environmental monitoring, and seismic and topographical surveys.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Palaris Australia (scoping study), Hatch (rail loadout and product transportation), Sedgman (CHPP design) and WaterSmart (water licences review).

Contact Details for Project Information
Atrum Coal, tel +61 3 9191 0135 or email info@atrumcoal.com.