The company received the Section 10 directional order for the planned Vancouver Island complex from the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office, an acknowledgement from the province’s government under the environmental reviewable projects legislation.
Once the environmental assessment has been completed, Compliance can then begin to obtain Raven’s mining permits.
“This is an important milestone for the Comox JV as the issuance of the Section 10 order triggers the environmental review process leading toward production,” Compliance said.
An environmental assessment certificate is expected to be applied for in next year’s second quarter and Compliance anticipates receipt of the EAC in early 2011. That timeline, the company said, allows for permitting and is in time for scheduled commissioning and commencement.
Last week, the producer announced there was potential to upgrade a large percentage of the inferred resources at Raven.
“Drilling continues to intersect Seam 1 and Seam 3 in areas where resources were previously categorized as inferred,” the company said.
“The results from the latest 12 holes, when combined with the previous 20 holes that were reported on July 9, will allow a significant portion of the previously reported inferred resources [of] 59 million tonnes to be upgraded to either measured or indicated.”
The upgrade will be updated to the feasibility study now underway and due for completion in next year’s second quarter.
As of the first week of August, a total of 32 holes and 8044 meters have been completed at the Raven property, of the permitted program of 43 holes and 14,996m.
Compliance noted that in the holes where the coal was of a mineable thickness of 1.5m or more, Seam 1 averaged 2.79m while Seam 3 averaged 2.22m. In its initial 2007 technical report, these seams averaged 2.8m and 1.5m in thickness respectively.
“These results will allow the feasibility study to be completed on a much larger resource than the current measured and indicated resource of 39 million tonnes. Based on our current drilling progress, the company anticipates completing the program by mid to late August, which would be a full month ahead of schedule,” the company said earlier this month.
Compliance said in July that all intersections were being been cored and sampled ply-by-ply and turned over to Gwil Industries’ Birtley Coal & Minerals Testing in Calgary to determine washability and quality. It is anticipated the results will be returned by the northern autumn of 2009.
Compliance began exploratory drilling at Raven, located on Vancouver Island, in June and retained consulting firm Pincock Allen and Holt for the feasibility study. It said at the time it had secured three drilling contractors and a total of four drilling rigs.
The company had received the underground exploration permit for the British Columbia complex just a few weeks earlier from the province’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.
According to an earlier technical report prepared by consultant OR Cullingham, Raven contains 39.09Mt of measured and indicated reserves and inferred resources of just over 59Mt.
Compliance is developing Raven as part of a joint venture signed in February with Japanese firm Itochu Corporation and Korea-based LG International, both of which have elected Compliance as the complex’s managing owner.
Check out the August issue of Coal USA Magazine, due out soon, for more information on the Raven project.
