PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal developer Atrum Coal has increased the Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource at its Groundhog project, in Canada, by some 460%.
The ASX-listed company reported on Wednesday that the global coal resource for Groundhog stood at some 1.57-billion tons of measured resource, of which some 16-million tons were classified as measured, 553-million tons as indicated and 998-million tons as inferred.
“The size of the Groundhog deposit is extraordinary. The coal is generally shallow and exhibits an exceptionally high rank,” said Atrum technical director Eric Lilford.
Some 415-million tons of the resource is amenable to opencut mining, and occurs between 0 m and 100 m depth. Some 90% of the total 1.57-billion tons of resource occurs between 0 m and 300 m depth.
“As one of the largest undeveloped anthracite deposits in the world, Groundhog has the potential to be a strategic asset in the global metallurgical coal space. We have an exciting year ahead of us,” he added.
Atrum would now look to advance the current resource base with infill, reserve definition and large-diameter bulk drilling in subsequent exploration campaigns.
The company had also commissioned a conceptual economic assessment, which would likely be completed late in the second quarter.