PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into the Chinook coal project, in Alberta, Canada, has indicated an economically and technically viable project, coal hopeful Montem Resources reported.
The scoping study considered an opencut mining operation based on Montem’s Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource of 149.1-million tonnes, and leveraged off existing rail, power and road infrastructure adjacent to the project.
“We are pleased to have completed this scoping study, which identifies the potential to realise cash flow from surface mining within the Chinook project. We have focused on Chinook as it sits in Category 4 lands and has the advantage of brownfield development,” said Montem MD and CEO Peter Doyle.
The Category 4 lands are areas where surface mining is contemplated, and would not be affected by the government of Alberta’s recent decision to reinstate the Coal Policy, which blocks surface coal mines in about 1.4-million hectares of wilderness.
“The board believes the positive result from the scoping study underscores our potential to be a multi-mine hard coking coal producer. We will now execute plans to conduct additional drilling, engineering and environmental work to undertake a prefeasibility study for Chinook,” said Doyle.