The optimisation study was completed as part of pre-feasibility study for the Buck Creek No.1 mine which is due for release this month.
Feedback from utilities within Paringa’s initial target market, the Ohio River market, confirms optimal coal specifications for future sales from the Buck Creek No.1 mine to consist of a washed, higher heating content product and a blended, lower heating content product.
Accordingly, Australian junior Paringa completed the optimisation study to redesign the CHPP to produce a washed and blended coal product resulting in a substantial improvement in the project fundamentals for the PFS, compared to the results of the scoping study released in February last year.
Paringa CEO David Gay credited the company’s management team’s “incredible job” in building relationships with its identified Tier-1 customer base and understanding their coal specification requirements.
The team also completed the optimisation study of how Paringa then process the coal to better suit customer needs which has led to some “substantial improvements” in the project fundamentals for the Buck Creek No.1 mine.
With raw coal from the underground mine transferred via conveyor belt to the CHPP for screening and processing, the CHPP Buck Creek No. 1 mine has been re-designed to produce two saleable coal products.
The first (Product A) is a fully washed product where all raw coal is immediately washed and transferred to the barge load-out facility as a fully washed, higher heating content 11,800Btu/lb product.
It is estimated that 30% of total sales from Buck Creek No.1 will be a fully washed product (Product A) with a preparation plant yield estimated at 67.1%.
The second (Product B) is a blended product, where about 20% of raw coal bypasses the processing stage and is subsequently blended with fully washed coal. This blended product is transferred to the barge load-out facility as a 11,204Btu/lb product with maximum 12% ash.
It is estimated that 70% of total sales from Buck Creek No. 1 will be a blended product (Product B) with a preparation plant yield estimated at 76.7%.
