Altona, which is listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, said the resource estimate relates to only 25% of the area covered by the known Wintinna deposit and evaluates the main area targeted for coal extraction by open cut methods.

The measured, indicated and inferred resource exceeds the 700 million tonnes originally targeted by the company.

Wintinna coal is proposed as the feed source for Altona’s Arckaringa coal to liquids (CTL) and power project.

“We knew from past exploration results that Wintinna is a substantial energy bank and we can now confidently report according to JORC standards that there is enough economic coal of suitable quality to support a high value adding CTL and co-generation power plant for 50 to 100 years or more,” Altona managing director Chris Schrape said.

A bankable feasibility study is underway at the Arckaringa project, which includes the Westfield and Murloocoppie deposits.

Altona has previously announced intentions to list on the Australian Securities Exchange.