PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Project partners Jameson Resources and Bathurst Resources have accelerated work at the Crown Mountain coking coal project, in Canada.
The two companies at the end of June signed an agreement which would see Bathurst provide an initial C$4-million investment into Jameson’s Canadian subsidiary NWP Coal Canada, to fund the 2018 summer exploration programme.
Once the exploration results have been reported, Bathurst would have the option to invest an additional C$7.5-million in NWP to sole-fund the bankable feasibility study (BFS), and the permitting required to construct a mine. Once the BFS is complete and the required permits have been granted, Bathurst would have the option to sole-fund the first C$110-million of construction costs, in the form of cash.
In addition, Bathurst also had the option to advance some of the C$7.5-million BFS funding, not exceeding C$500 000 per month, to NWP to fund non-exploration related critical path activities, such as permitting, and engineering/design.
NWP has now requested an advancement from Bathurst, which the ASX-listed company has agreed to make for the month of July, providing funding to advance permitting and BFS workstreams.
Jameson said on Monday that the monies would allow key Crown Mountain activities to accelerate, even while the exploration programme is being executed.
The Crown Mountain project is expected to produce 1.7-million tonnes a year of coal over a mine life of 16 years. Free-on-board cash costs will average some $66/t during the first four years of operation, and will reach $75/t over the life-of-mine.