Tigers says an additional inferred resource of 110Mt is estimated to exist below open pit depth, providing potential for future underground operations.

The report follows completion of 30,000m of resource definition drilling at the site since 2008 and additional outcrop mapping, trenching and analysis of data from various Soviet-era geological expeditions.

The drilling program has so far confirmed Tigers’ initial interpretation of the deposit as a large-scale, high-quality coking coal resource.

Average cumulative thickness is estimated to be 10-11m, though the company says drillholes have intersected cumulative coal thicknesses up to 25m.

Preliminary results from ongoing quality testwork have indicated Amaam coking coals are high in vitrinite, mid-volatile, high swell and high fluidity.

An application for exploration and exploitation at Amaam submitted earlier this year is expected to produce a mining licence in the first quarter of 2013.

Upon conversion of the Amaam exploration licence to a mining licence, Tigers Realm will move from 40% to 60% ownership of the deposit.

It will move to 80% ownership upon completion of the bankable feasibility study currently underway.