The initial resource of 7.2Mt measured, 4.6Mt indicated and 15Mt inferred provides an excellent foundation for the development of an initial mining operation at the project, Tiger said in an announcement today.

A total of 40 holes were drilled in project F in April, on a small portion of the Amaam North licence block, at a depth of 30-160m.

The area was chosen due to the presence of outcropping thick, shallow coking coal seams close to existing infrastructure.

The results from the drilling confirmed shallow-dipping seams with a cumulative coal thickness of 2-11m with approximate depth of cover of 5m-115m.

It showed 20.9Mt of the total resource was in the open pit domain less than 150m from surface. Below 150m, the resource totals 5.9 Mt, providing significant potential upside from future underground operations.

“The deposit remains open down dip and along strike and continuation of the coal seams around the anticline to the south and along strike to the east is expected to yield further shallow coals with similar properties to those currently drilled,” Tigers said.

Following initial air dried coal quality testing, Tigers said the coal at project F appears to be a mid to high-volatile bituminous coking coal. The upper coal seams comprise approximately 63% of the deposit and have an average ash content of 9.3%. These seams will provide the majority of the raw product for direct shipping that will be targeted in the first phase of the project’s operations.

Tigers added that the lower seams have an average ash of 19.3% and will require washing to produce a coking coal product but clean coal test work is not yet complete.

An independent consultant geologist previously defined an exploration target of 30-40 million tons for the license based on data collected to June 2012.

Tigers said that it will follow up on prospective areas to the south and east of project F with field mapping programs during Augusta and September with further drilling slated for November.

Work on a pre-feasibility study for the open-pit potential of project F is underway, with the results anticipated for Q3 2013.

Tigers said it expects the Project F PFS will demonstrate the viability of project F as a starter coking coal mine development. Subject to completion of a definitive feasibility study in Q1 2014 and obtaining all necessary approvals, development of project F is expected to commence in early 2014.

A PFS for the company’s other project, Amaam, also recently confirmed a large-scale, long-life open pit and underground mine with production of 6.5 million tons per annum of coking coal, of which 5Mtpa would come from open pit and 1.5Mtpa from underground over the 20-year life-of-mine.

Tigers Realm currently holds 60% ownership of Amaam and once a bankable feasibility study is completed, it can increase its ownership to 80%. The company owns 80% of Amaam North.

“The coming months are shaping up to be an exciting period for Tigers Realm as the company continues with a large volume of work on the study of project F,” it concluded.

“[Tigers] will continue to keep the market up to date with the results of the PFS as we work towards confirming project F as a game changing starter project for the company.”