Continental Coal says exploration programs have revealed a substantial increase in resources at its flagship De Wittekrans thermal coal project in South Africa.
The Perth-based miner confirmed a maiden JORC-compliant reserve of 44 million tonnes at De Wittekrans in an announcement to the ASX today.
The resource upgrade increases the reserves managed by Continental’s South Africa-based subsidiary by 222 per cent, from 20Mt to 64Mt, across De Wittekrans and the Vlakvarkfontein, Ferreira and Penumbra coal projects.
But the announcement was not enough to stop Continental’s stock from dropping 3 per cent by 9:13AM (WST) to 3 cents.
The resource estimate was prepared as part of a bankable feasibility study currently being finalised for the De Wittekrans project.
“The maiden JORC compliant saleable coal reserve for the De Wittekrans Coal Project is another significant step forward for the company,” Continental chief executive Don Turvey said.
“With total proven and probable saleable reserves of 43.77Mt, the De Wittekrans Coal Project is set to become the company’s largest future mine development.
“With the bankable feasibility study for the De Wittekrans coal project nearing completion we anticipate realising further positive news on its findings in the current quarter.”
Continental is targeting annual production of 3.6Mtpa to 4Mtpa of coal over a 30 year mine life at De Wittekrans.