It is also preparing to take the Wongai Coking Coal project bankable feasibility status, its chairman Gary Cochrane says.

The company, which is seeking to re-list on the Australian Securities Exchange and raise money through a placement, is well positioned to tender for narrow seam coal mining contracts, he told the company’s annual general meeting.

“Despite a difficult end to FY2013, there is now a very positive direction on which to build a stronger company and source funding to take the Wongai Coking Coal Project to full bankable feasibility status,” he said.

“To achieve this goal the company has now commenced a two- phase capital raising program to provide funds to for long term development of the project and to allow a retrading of the company’s securities on the ASX before June 2014.“

FY2014 has started in a positive direction with the Joint Venture, Farm in and “Life of mine” Management agreements for the Wongai Coking Coal Project signed on 13 September, Cochrane said.

“These agreements allow Bounty to farm in to 40% of the Wongai Joint Venture with development of the project to full bankable feasibility stage and then give Bounty the right to acquire a further 11% interest in the project at a discounted price of 25% of an independent valuation.

“The Wongai Project is located in Cape York just north of the town of Laura. It has high quality hard coking coal resource with seam thickness ranging from 1.4 metres to 2.0 metres and is therefore suited to Bounty’s expertise and mining fleet capability.

“As part of the first phase of the Farm-in agreement Bounty has now already completed an initial drilling program with successful completion of 4 cored holes. All holes encountered good quality coking coal at less than 115 metres depth with two of the holes having a coal thickness of 1.75 metres.

“This is thicker than the typical seam thickness at the Aquila seam that Bounty had been mining previously. There is also the potential for a low cost shallow underground entry with minimum portal and stone development.”

The next phase of work for Wongai will complete detailed coal quality analysis, provide an updated and larger JORC resource, and finalise initial concept mining, coal haulage and barging studies. All of this work is expected to be complete by the end of January 2014 in line with expected farm in obligations.