New Study Shows Dartbrook Coal Lease Has More Than One Billion Tonnes of Coal
By Ian Kirkwood
May 24, 2016 - The company intending to buy Dartbrook coalmine says a new assessment shows at least 1.2 billion tonnes of coal in the project area.
Australian Pacific Coal, which has Nathan Tinkler and Northern Territory identities John Robinson and Nick Paspaley as major shareholders, intends buying Dartbrook for $60 million from mining giant Anglo American and its Japanese partner Marubeni.
Dartbrook’s underground mine closed on a “care and maintenance” basis in 2007 and Australian Pacific wants to start an open-cut mine on the same lease.
In a statement to the stock exchange on Tuesday, Australian Pacific Coal said an independent assessment of the resource by geological consultants JB Mining Services came up with a “Coal Resource Estimate” of 1.2 billion tonnes.
Of this amount, 466 million tonnes was classified as “measured”, 449 million tonnes were “indicated” and another 294 million tonnes were “inferred”.
Mr. Robinson said the measurements “confirm Dartbook as one of the largest under-developed coal operations in the Hunter Valley”.
“It reaffirms our long-held belief that Dartbrook is a tier one mining asset that has the potential to create a significant number of job opportunities for the local community,” Mr. Robinson said.
“The high quality of Dartbrook’s coal will also help meet global demand for low ash Australian premium thermal coal, which will continue to play a critical role in meeting future energy needs.”
Although it is difficult to put a financial value on these types of estimates, the coal itself has a potential sale value in the billions of dollars, were it able to be profitably extracted.
The Newcastle Herald asked the consultants, JB Mining, about putting a financial value on the coal, but it declined to comment.
Although Mr. Tinkler’s bankruptcy means he is no longer a director or executive of the company, Tinkler family companies are still prominent on the share register and he has been spotted on the job and has publicly confirmed his continuing involvement.
Australian Pacific initially announced it was buying Anglo’s 83.33 per cent stake in Dartbrook for $50million, comprising $25million with the rest in royalties. Earlier this month it announced a similar deal for Marubeni’s 16.67 per cent, comprising $5million cash and $5million royalties, valuing the overall deal at $60million.
I