An upgraded mining licence is a key part in the approvals process necessary to start the development and operation of the Central Kalimantan mine, managing director Jim Middleton said.

“With the lodgement of the mining licence upgrade application, together with the submission of the EIS, the approvals process remains on track to allow construction to commence in Q4 2013,” he said.

“With the achievement of these two significant milestones, we remain excited about the progress we have so far made towards bringing this low-cost, high-value project into production.

The BBM Coal Project, in the prospective metallurgical Upper Barito Coal Basin, covers 19,920 hectares. It is adjacent to BHP Billiton’s Indomet Coal Joloi Project in Murung Raya Regency.

BBM has reported an exploration target of 200-350 million tonnes in 13 seams within the Eastern Block of the BBM lease (about 40% of the project area), as well as an additional JORC Resource of 77Mt in four seams comprised of 70Mt inferred and 7Mt indicated.

The BBM Project is proposed to produce up to 6.5Mtpa Run of Mine (ROM) estimated to provide 5.6Mtpa saleable product, with first coal scheduled in 1H 2014.

Cokal executive chairman Peter Lynch said: “The pre-feasibility study provided us with significant confidence that we have a technically viable and economically compelling project, in a commodity with a great future.

“We are now focused on completing all the necessary applications, approvals, project studies and contracting arrangements required to take the project into production.”