Aquila to spend $1.25bn at Eagle Downs

Tony Poli's Aquila Resources has resumed trading on the Australian Securities Exchange after releasing a study that put a $1.25 billion price tag on its Eagle Downs coking coal project in Queensland.

The study revealed the project has a total JORC compliant resource of 959 million tonnes and a reserve of 254 million tonnes, with a potential for an average 4.5 million tonnes per annum production of hard coking coal.

Aquila said the project had an estimated mine life of 48 years at operating costs of $94 per tonne.

The report flagged a production start date of October 2016, with construction of surface infrastructure to be complete by June 2014.

At 9:02AM(WST) Aquila's stock had gained nearly 55 cents to trade at $8.90.

Aquila is developing Eagle Downs in a 50:50 joint venture with Bowen Central Coal, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brazilian minerals giant Vale.